Speakers
Episode 5:
Topography, Geology, Weather & Water
Ed Wasserman
Ed Wasserman, retired veteran of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Structures Division is nationally renowned as a bridge structures specialist. Wasserman is an international speaker on bridge designs and performance. Wasserman has been recognized as a top engineer in Tennessee by the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers, with the society’s highest honor, Outstanding Engineer of the Year. This distinction is based on the recipients' integrity, reputation and services to the engineering field. Wasserman was with TDOT for 45 years including 24 years as the Director of the Structures Division. Wasserman is considered a pioneer and national expert in the design and construction of steel bridges and is a frequent contributor to several professional journals and publications. Wasserman has been honored with numerous national and state engineering awards including the James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation Bronze Award, the National Steel Bridge Alliance Special Award, the American Iron and Steel Institute’s Award for Innovation in Steel Bridge Construction and the TSPE’s 1998 Government Engineer of the Year Award. The Government Engineer of the Year Award is presented to the top professional engineer working in government service. |
Bill Moore
Bill Moore has over 50 years of Transportation experience in Tennessee and currently serves as a Senior V-P for Transportation at Gresham Smith a Nashville A/E firm where he has worked since 2004. Prior to joining Gresham Smith he had a 36 year tenure with the Tennessee Department of Transportation retiring as Chief Engineer. Moore holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Tennessee and also currently serves as Board Chairman for The Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance. As TDOT Chief Engineer, he was responsible for the planning, design, maintenance and operation of TDOT’s statewide transportation system. Notable projects completed under his stewardship include the following: the construction of I-26 from Johnson City, Tennessee to North Carolina; the TDOT SmartWay Nashville Intelligent Transportation System; and the freeway high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in Nashville and Memphis. |
David Donoho, PE
David Donoho is a Senior Principal with Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (SSR) serving as the Transportation Market Sector leader. SSR is a multi-discipline firm headquartered in Nashville with 14 offices located in the US. David joined SSR in 2008 upon his retirement from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. David began his career at TDOT as a seasonal employee in 1976 and ended his career serving as the Director of Construction for the state from 1998 to 2008. David is an active member of the Tennessee Road Builders Association, having recently rolled off the TRBA Board after serving 6 years. David is presently a Board member of the Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance. David is also an active member of American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Tennessee having served on several committees as well as the current ACEC liaison for the FHWA Every Day Counts (EDC) initiatives. David attended the University of Tennessee and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. |
Paul Degges, P.E.
Paul Degges, who served as Chief Engineer at TDOT for 18 years from 2004 to 2022, oversaw the design and implementation of the Department’s engineering projects. Paul has overseen the awarding of more than 6,200 contracts with a construction value of more than $13 billion. In addition to these responsibilities, Paul worked closely with appointed and elected officials on the state and national level in formulating transportation policy. Paul received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and is a licensed engineer. Beginning his career with TDOT in 1988, Paul has worked within several disciplines including field construction, roadway design, information systems, hydraulic design and structures. |
Harry Moore
Harry Moore worked at the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) for 37 years as an engineering geologist, retiring in 2009. Afterward, he worked part-time for Golder Associates out of the Atlanta office for ten years, retiring from Golder in December of 2019. While at TDOT, Moore was active in the National Highway Geology Symposium, where he was awarded the prestigious Medallion Award for outstanding service to the Highway Geology Symposium. Moore graduated from the University of Tennessee with a BS in Geology in 1971 and an MS in Geology in 1974. His Master's program focus was invertebrate paleontology. Moore did he thesis around the Coon Creek Fossil deposit in West Tennessee’s Mcnairy County. Moore was also on private research team, responsible for the geologic understanding and related highway infrastructure issues with karst in China. As a result, the team womr research awards in China: First-degree award for science and technology advancement – awarded by the Guizhou Province in 2007; Special award – awarded by the China Highway Society in 2007; and Second-degree national award for science and technology advancement – awarded by the Department of Science and Technology, People’s Republic of China. |
Jason E. Mumpower, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury
Jason E. Mumpower was elected Tennessee’s 35th Comptroller of the Treasury on January 13, 2021. Prior to his service with the Comptroller’s Office, Mumpower served in the Tennessee General Assembly as the State Representative for Sullivan and Johnson counties. He was first elected to office at age 23 and during his 14-year tenure, he held the positions of House Majority Leader and House Minority Leader. He joined the Comptroller’s Office in December 2010, serving as former Comptroller Justin P. Wilson’s Deputy Comptroller and Chief of Staff. Comptroller Mumpower resides in Bristol, Tennessee with his wife, Alicia, and son, Max. |
Raul Lopez
Since 2014, Raul López, has served as the Executive Director of Men of Valor after his appointment following the sudden passing of its founder, Carl Carlson. López was born in Havana, Cuba in 1962. At the age of five, he and his family escaped Communism and found a new life in the United States of America. In 2006, after more than a decade of being a small business owner, Raul was called to full-time prison ministry at Men of Valor, where he managed the Aftercare/Re-Entry and Family Ministry outreach program for eight years. Raul has chaired and served on many boares. Raul is also active in the Latino community. Over the years he has been involved in both the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce, as well as his local church and various Conservative causes. He also helped found and host two local television programs, Qué Pasa Nashville and Spanish TV, both of which are dedicated to the opportunities and challenges facing the Hispanic community in Middle Tennessee. Raul is also the Founder and Executive Director of Latinos for Tennessee. His vision and commitment to the cause of Latinos for Tennessee have been invaluable in bringing the organization to the place it is today. Raul co-founded and leads as Executive Director a non-profit organization, Hispanic Organization of Leaders and Achievers (HOLA). |
Episode 4:
Stagecoach Roads to Interstates in Tennessee
Randy Jeffers
Hawkins County has been home to Randy Jeffers for most of his adult life. Retired from BAE Systems in 2021, Jeffers had worked at Holston Army Ammunition Plant. In years past, Jeffers had been a lineman for Holston Electric. Jeffers farms approximately 400 acres in Hawkins County, maintaining a herd of cattle in the 120-150 range. He is known for superior tasting beef cattle. On one of the farms, Jeffers hosted a corn maze in the fall that was extremely popular. Its success was so immense that it outgrew what was feasible to continue. Jeffers is a consummate Southern farmer, always glad to sit a spell to share story and throw in historical tidbits along the way. Jeffers has been married to the former Vickie Stewart for 35 years, has three adult children and five grandchildren. |
Wendy Jacobs
As his fifth great granddaughter, Wendy Jacobs is a direct descendant of Thomas Amis, an American Revolutionary War officer and early settler in what would become Tennessee. She and her husband, Jake, live in the original Thomas Amis home where important Western travelers, most notably Andrew Jackson, overnighted more than two centuries ago. Wendy and Jake have been about the continual task of reclaiming, maintaining and sharing the Amis homestead and farm with tens of thousands of visitors. It is one of Tennessee's largest privately owned public historical parks. Features include remnants of the original stagecoach road that runs through the property and the dam built for Amis Mill, when the land was first developed by Amis in the late 1700s. Visitors can enjoy a meal at Amis Mill Restaurant, along with seeing the historic site just outside Rogersville, Tennessee. |
George Webb
George Webb, native and current resident of Rogersville, is respected for his expertise in the history of Tennessee, particularly in Hawkins County and the nearby region. He has served in many leadership capacities within the historical and genealogical community including as the official Hawkins County historian. Mr. Webb owned and operated Tennessee Books and Autographs for five decades specializing in maps, newspapers, photographs, picture post cards, any local and state wide documents. Many items have passed through his collection later landing in the collection of the Tennessee State Museum and/or the State Library and Archives. Mr. Webb acknowledges due to attrition, he became the dean of those who are Tennessee antiquarian book dealers. Mr. Webb, grew up and resides in Rogersville with his wife, and family. |
Ed Wasserman
Ed Wasserman, retired veteran of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Structures Division is nationally renowned as a bridge structures specialist. Wasserman is an international speaker on bridge designs and performance. Wasserman has been recognized as a top engineer in Tennessee by the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers, with the society’s highest honor, Outstanding Engineer of the Year. This distinction is based on the recipients' integrity, reputation and services to the engineering field. Wasserman was with TDOT for 45 years including 24 years as the Director of the Structures Division. Wasserman is considered a pioneer and national expert in the design and construction of steel bridges and is a frequent contributor to several professional journals and publications. Wasserman has been honored with numerous national and state engineering awards including the James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation Bronze Award, the National Steel Bridge Alliance Special Award, the American Iron and Steel Institute’s Award for Innovation in Steel Bridge Construction and the TSPE’s 1998 Government Engineer of the Year Award. The Government Engineer of the Year Award is presented to the top professional engineer working in government service. |
Cecil Cook
Cecil Cook, still an active professional, has been working in the highway construction since 1956 with his first job being at the Tennessee Department of Transportation. It has been said by people working with him daily that Cook never slows down and even today he continues to provide his sixty plus years of professional experience to TDOT and the Tennessee highway construction industry. He is renowned in the road building industry as having an innate understanding of where to best lay a new road taking into considersation the toprography and geology aspects that underlie any road. Cook is a former volunteer president of the Tennessee Road Builders Association in 1996-97. Since 2004, Cook has been employed with Wilson & Associates. Cook was born in Byrdstown, Tennessee in 1936, as the middle child of five. Later the Cook family moved to a farm in Warren County to raise corn and hogs, supporting 3 of 5 siblings through college. Cook earned a degree from Tennessee Tech in a agricultural science, but circumstances re-routed his career path back to civil engineering. During his summers at tech, Cecil was employed by an area surveyor, who worked with the Tennessee highway department, which became known as t-dot in 1972. As luck would have it, when Cook received his college degree in 1958, the highway department was hiring. In 1966, Cook went to the private sector where he has worked since. |
David Donoho, PE
David Donoho is a Senior Principal with Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (SSR) serving as the Transportation Market Sector leader. SSR is a multi-discipline firm headquartered in Nashville with 14 offices located in the US. David joined SSR in 2008 upon his retirement from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. David began his career at TDOT as a seasonal employee in 1976 and ended his career serving as the Director of Construction for the state from 1998 to 2008. David is an active member of the Tennessee Road Builders Association, having recently rolled off the TRBA Board after serving 6 years. David is presently a Board member of the Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance. David is also an active member of American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Tennessee having served on several committees as well as the current ACEC liaison for the FHWA Every Day Counts (EDC) initiatives. David attended the University of Tennessee and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. |
Special Edition
Crisis on the Memphis Bridge
Former TDOT Commissioner Clay Bright
Prior to joining the Lee Administration, Bright spent 36 years with Brasfield & Gorrie, one of the nation’s largest construction firms. Under his leadership for 20 years, the Nashville office he founded completed over $3 billion in construction and grew to employ over 200 people. Bright was involved in the development of many of Nashville’s most notable construction projects, beginning with the iconic Bellsouth (AT&T) building in 1990 and later including the Bridgestone Tower, Country Music Hall of Fame Expansion, Roundabout Plaza, Suntrust Plaza, Tractor Supply Headquarters, and many more. Bright is an active member of Nashville’s business community, serving on several boards and commissions. He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Alabama. He and his wife, Kim, have two sons and are members of Christ Presbyterian Church. |
Ted Kniazewycz, P.E., F.ASCE
Ted Kniazewycz is the Director of the Structures Division at the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Ted is a graduate of Tennessee Tech and began his engineering career with the Tennessee Department of Transportation in the Structures Division. He also served as Metro Nashville’s Bridge Engineer and as the transportation structural lead at Gresham Smith prior to rejoining TDOT in 2017. Ted has been active in ASCE since his student chapter days at Tennessee Tech He has served as Nashville Branch President and continues to serve the Tennessee Section as Treasurer and ASCE at the societal level as Region 4 Past-Governor after 11 years of service. In his free time, he is active in Boy Scouting and is most proud of this three Eagle Scouts. He is married to Susannah who is also a civil engineer and they reside in Mount Juliet area just outside of Nashville. |
CHRISTOPHER FRIEBERG P.E. | BIO
After graduating from the University of New Mexico with a degree in Civil Engineering, Chris started his 24-year career in the engineering and construction industry. Currently, Chris holds the role of Area Manager and Vice President of Operations for Kiewit Construction’s Mid-South Region responsible for running the construction operation in Tennessee and the surrounding states. Throughout his career, Chris has managed multi-faceted projects involving alternative delivery methods, aggressive schedules, and technical challenges including the $155 million TDOT I-440 Reconstruction Design Build in Nashville, TN where 7.5 miles of I-440 was widened and reconstructed in 20 months and the Fast Fix 8 Project in where 8 Interstate bridges were replaced in just 7 weekends. Frieberg's, most recently lead Kiewit’s contribution to the Repair of the I-40 Hernando DeSoto Bridge in Memphis. |
Susie Alcorn, executive producer & creator
Serving as Executive Director of Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance since 2005, Alcorn primarily focuses on issue management, education and advocacy. When the time came for a consideration of an increase to transportation funding, Alcorn was front and center coordinating the public relations and multi-media campaign of the 38-member Transportation Coalition. Alongside the Tennessee Road Builders executive, Alcorn served as key staff in the effort to obtain long-term sustainable funding for Tennessee’s highway system. Originally hailing from Coffee County, Susie Alcorn has offered professional services since 1999 as an independent consultant in government relations, strategic consulting, issue management and project management. She has been in the public policy space since 1995 with service in the Mayor’s office at the City of Knoxville from 1991-1994. Named one of Tennessee's 40 Under 40 by Business Tennessee magazine, Alcorn is widely respected in government and business circles across Tennessee and points beyond. Alcorn has been recognized time and again for her laser focused ability to work her unique national and statewide network deploying tactical engagement to obtain results. |
Episode 2:
Tennessee's Roads from Origin to the Automobile
Darrin Kirkus
Sevier County native Darrin Kirkus, a marketing professional and hospitality industry specialist, had an early start working with the public as he greeted guests of the Bearland Motel, his family's business, in Gatlinburg and was sometimes a guide on trolley tours around town. When his family moved and managed the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge, Kirkus billed himself as "The World's Youngest Miller" and was featured in the Chicago Sun Times, on the television show Kids World and regional media. Over three decades, Kirkus developed a career focusing in all facets of advertising, marketing and contact with the public. Being particularly adept at quickly having the right words to use in marketing concepts, today he leads a team of professionals at Epitomedia LLC. Kirkus is well renowned for his past work with Campus Crusade for Christ at Tennessee Technological University and beyond. He is known for bringing throngs of people together in fellowship and leadership advancement. Kirkus currently resides in Nashville, TN. |
Raymon White
Raymon White is a seasoned public affairs and business development consultant with more than 20 years experience in the southeast and across the country. He currently serves as a principal with Commonwealth Group Partners, LLC, a public affairs and business development firm he founded. Since founding Commonwealth Group Partners, LLC, White has served as a consultant representing a wide range of business interests and associations before the Executive and Legislative branch in multiple states along with assisting clients in opening new markets and expanding existing markets. White developed strategic insight into the way government operates while serving as an aide in the administration of former Tennessee Governor Don Sundquist. During his tenure with the Sundquist Administration, White served the Commissioner of Transportation as special assistant where he was a liaison between private industry and government agencies on various construction projects and a liaison with federal, state and local elected officials and trade associations. White is a member the American-Swiss Foundation and an alumnus of the Young Leaders Conference of the American-Swiss Foundation. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and resides in Atlanta, Georgia. |
Kent D. Starwalt
Kent D. Starwalt serves as Executive Vice President of the Tennessee Road Builders Association (TRBA) in Nashville, Tennessee where he is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the full-service state association which represents nearly 315 contractor and associate members. Mr. Starwalt is also a registered lobbyist for TRBA. Prior to his joining TRBA, Mr. Starwalt served as Director of the Contractors Division and State Activities for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), in Washington, DC, for eight years. He also served as President of the Metropolitan Washington Road & Transportation Builders Association in the District of Columbia. Before his service in D.C., Mr. Starwalt served for nearly two years as the legislative analyst in the Bureau of State Legislation with the Illinois Department of Transportation in Springfield, Illinois. He has also worked for the State of Missouri in its Washington, D.C., office and has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Mr. Starwalt has also completed an extensive executive development program receiving a certificate in association management from the College of Business and Management, University of Maryland and the American Society of Association Executives. In 2007, Kent was the recipient of the Tennessee Society of Association Executives' “Association Executive of the Year” Award. Kent resides with his wife and son in Franklin, Tennessee. |
Auburn Swann
Auburn Swan, native of Smith County resides in the Defeated Creek Community. In May 2019, Auburn placed first at the 4-H district competition in the engineering demonstration category on the topic "How Tennessee's Roads are Built." Auburn is participant the Smith County Middle School ladies golf team along with being a football manager for the Smith County Middle School football team. Auburn enjoys travel, cooking and time with her family. |
George Webb
George Webb, native and current resident of Rogersville, is respected for his expertise in the history of Tennessee, particularly in Hawkins County and the nearby region. He has served in many leadership capacities within the historical and genealogical community including as the official Hawkins County historian. Mr. Webb owned and operated Tennessee Books and Autographs for five decades specializing in maps, newspapers, photographs, picture post cards, any local and state wide documents. Many items have passed through his collection later landing in the collection of the Tennessee State Museum and/or the State Library and Archives. Mr. Webb acknowledges due to attrition, he became the dean of those who are Tennessee antiquarian book dealers. Mr. Webb, grew up and resides in Rogersville with his wife, and family. |
Susie Alcorn, executive producer & creator
Serving as Executive Director of Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance since 2005, Alcorn primarily focuses on issue management, education and advocacy. When the time came for a consideration of an increase to transportation funding, Alcorn was front and center coordinating the public relations and multi-media campaign of the 38-member Transportation Coalition. Alongside the Tennessee Road Builders executive, Alcorn served as key staff in the effort to obtain long-term sustainable funding for Tennessee’s highway system. Originally hailing from Coffee County, Susie Alcorn has offered professional services since 1999 as an independent consultant in government relations, strategic consulting, issue management and project management. She has been in the public policy space since 1995 with service in the Mayor’s office at the City of Knoxville from 1991-1994. Named one of Tennessee's 40 Under 40 by Business Tennessee magazine, Alcorn is widely respected in government and business circles across Tennessee and points beyond. Alcorn has been recognized time and again for her laser focused ability to work her unique national and statewide network deploying tactical engagement to obtain results. |
Episode 1:
The History of Tennessee’s Road System
Bill Moore
Bill Moore has over 50 years of Transportation experience in Tennessee and currently serves as a Senior V-P for Transportation at Gresham Smith a Nashville A/E firm where he has worked since 2004. Prior to joining Gresham Smith he had a 36 year tenure with the Tennessee Department of Transportation retiring as Chief Engineer. Moore holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Tennessee and also currently serves as Board Chairman for The Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance. As TDOT Chief Engineer, he was responsible for the planning, design, maintenance and operation of TDOT’s statewide transportation system. Notable projects completed under his stewardship include the following: the construction of I-26 from Johnson City, Tennessee to North Carolina; the TDOT SmartWay Nashville Intelligent Transportation System; and the freeway high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes in Nashville and Memphis. |
Paul Degges, P.E.
Paul Degges, who served as Chief Engineer at TDOT for 18 years from 2004 to 2022, oversaw the design and implementation of the Department’s engineering projects. Paul has overseen the awarding of more than 6,200 contracts with a construction value of more than $13 billion. In addition to these responsibilities, Paul worked closely with appointed and elected officials on the state and national level in formulating transportation policy. Paul received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University and is a licensed engineer. Beginning his career with TDOT in 1988, Paul has worked within several disciplines including field construction, roadway design, information systems, hydraulic design and structures. |
Jason E. Mumpower, Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury
Jason E. Mumpower was elected Tennessee’s 35th Comptroller of the Treasury on January 13, 2021. Prior to his service with the Comptroller’s Office, Mumpower served in the Tennessee General Assembly as the State Representative for Sullivan and Johnson counties. He was first elected to office at age 23 and during his 14-year tenure, he held the positions of House Majority Leader and House Minority Leader. He joined the Comptroller’s Office in December 2010, serving as former Comptroller Justin P. Wilson’s Deputy Comptroller and Chief of Staff. Comptroller Mumpower resides in Bristol, Tennessee with his wife, Alicia, and son, Max. |
Host & Narrator + Executive Producer & Creator
Chris Hill, host & narrator
Chris Hill is a Knoxville, TN native and owner of the podcast production company, HumblePod. He helps his customers create, develop, and produce podcasts and is working with clients in Knoxville as well as startups and entrepreneurs across the United States, Silicon Valley, and the world. In addition to producing podcasts for nationally-recognized thought leaders, Chris is the co-host and producer of the award-winning Our Humble Beer Podcast. He also lectures at the University of Tennessee, where he leads non-credit courses on podcasts and marketing. He received his undergraduate degree in business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he majored in Marketing & Entrepreneurship, and he later received his MBA from King University. Chris currently serves his community as the President of the American Marketing Association in Knoxville. In his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with the local craft beer community, international travel, exploring the great outdoors, and his many creative pursuits. |
Susie Alcorn, executive producer & creator
Serving as Executive Director of Tennessee Infrastructure Alliance since 2005, Alcorn primarily focuses on issue management, education and advocacy. When the time came for a consideration of an increase to transportation funding, Alcorn was front and center coordinating the public relations and multi-media campaign of the 38-member Transportation Coalition. Alongside the Tennessee Road Builders executive, Alcorn served as key staff in the effort to obtain long-term sustainable funding for Tennessee’s highway system. Originally hailing from Coffee County, Susie Alcorn has offered professional services since 1999 as an independent consultant in government relations, strategic consulting, issue management and project management. She has been in the public policy space since 1995 with service in the Mayor’s office at the City of Knoxville from 1991-1994. Named one of Tennessee's 40 Under 40 by Business Tennessee magazine, Alcorn is widely respected in government and business circles across Tennessee and points beyond. Alcorn has been recognized time and again for her laser focused ability to work her unique national and statewide network deploying tactical engagement to obtain results. |