Thomas Blackburn Deen (1928- ), a graduate of the University of Kentucky, began his career as a highway traffic engineer. Early in his career, Deen pioneered in the development and application of methods for analyzing urban transportation problems and designing urban transit systems. These computer-based analytical methods were used to evaluate and select the lines that today make up the Washington, D.C. area Metrorail system. 

Deen served as Director of Planning for the National Capital Transportation Agency from 1960 to 1964, and Executive Director of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) from 1980 to 1994. At the TRB, Deen supervised policy studies on critical national transportation issues, such as the 55 mile per hour speed limit, school bus safety, air passenger service and safety since deregulation, and high-speed rail. He was responsible for all of TRB's activities including its sponsorship of some 260 technical committees and panels, research retrieval systems, inhouse research, and state-sponsored cooperative research programs. 

The Thomas Blackburn Deen Papers contain Transportation-related materials collected between 1980 and 1994 while Mr. Deen was head of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Types of materials include conference and committee meeting materials,TRB research information, speeches and personal correspondence. The materials cover a wide variety of topics such as highway construction, safety, international transportation concerns, and funding for highways. Organizations represented by materials in the papers include the Federal Highway Administration, the Department of Transportation, and the Permanent International Association of Road Congresses. 

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