Rick Holmgreen has served the asphalt industry for almost 40 years in both academia and private industry. He started his career with the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, working with asphalt researchers such as Dallas Little and AI Roll of Honor recipient Dr. Jon Epps. During the Strategic Highway Research Program, Rick moved to the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas, working with another AI Roll of Honor recipient, Dr. Tom Kennedy. Following his work at the University of Texas, Rick moved on to the liquid asphalt industry in the early 90s, starting – and eventually ending – with Shell.
Rick has numerous accomplishments within the industry as a whole, but specifically a number of accomplishments in his service to the Asphalt Institute. He published several papers in the Transportation Research Record and Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists Proceedings, winning the prestigious AAPT Emmons Award for Best Paper in 1981 – “Effect of Recycling Agents on the Structural Performance of Recycled Asphalt Concrete Materials” (with Dallas Little and Jon Epps).
Rick served as member of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) from 2000-2015, serving as Chair of the TAC for two consecutive terms serving from 2005-2010. Under his leadership the TAC developed its position on the Multiple-Stress Creep-Recovery (MSCR) test and directed the development of the National Binder Technician Certification (NBTC) program.
He was appointed member of the first Roofing Technical Advisory Committee (RTAC) in 2002 and served as ex-officio (voting) member of the RTAC from 2005-2010, coinciding with his position as TAC Chair. He also served as Director on the Board of Directors from 2013-2016, and as a Director-at-Large on the Executive Committee from 2013-2015. He was awarded Emeritus Membership in the Asphalt Institute in 2016.
Rick was appointed to the Asphalt Institute Foundation (AIF) Board of Directors (since 2015) and the AIF Research Committee (since 2018). He was a member of the committee responsible for planning the inaugural AIF STAR Symposium in 2017 and participated as one of the “STAR 100”.
It is clear when examining Rick Holmgreen’s accomplishments that he has had a career dedicated to technical leadership in the asphalt industry and has earned the recognition of the Asphalt Institute’s Distinguished Service Award.
