Lisa Durbin Dynamic Performance Award
February 27, 2024The PTF would like to congratulate Kathy James (Montana DOT, or MDT) as the inaugural recipient of the Lisa Durbin Dynamic Performance Award! This is the first in what we hope will be a long-running tradition of honoring those who contribute to the AASHTOWare Project community in exceptional ways.
The Lisa Durbin Dynamic Performance Award was created by the Project Task Force in 2023 to honor one of their own. In December 2022, Lisa Durbin (also with MDT) sadly passed from this life after more than 20 years as a part of the AASHTOWare Project community. Lisa spent many years managing the Engineering Systems Bureau in MDT. Under Lisa’s leadership (and with her prompting), MDT implemented several modules of AASHTOWare Project, both legacy products and web-based products.
In the AASHTOWare community, Lisa was known for her passion for AASHTOWare Project. She was a vocal and active participant in more than 20 Project User Group conferences, TAG meetings, and a member of the PTF. Anyone who was around Lisa immediately saw how much she cared about making sure AASHTOWare Project was the best product it could be, not just for MDT, but for every agency using it.
More importantly, Lisa was known to be an incredibly kind and dynamic person. Her personality and attitude were infectious, and she did everything with passion. Lisa was known to change seats frequently during meetings just to force others out of their comfort zone. It provided great entertainment, but likely also sparked new conversations and relationships.
Kathy James serves as the Acting Bureau Chief for Engineering Operations at MDT and has been involved in the AASHTOWare Project community for nearly 20 years. During that time, she’s been actively involved in the Project User Group (PUG), serving on Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs), as well as substantial involvement on the Technical Review Teams (TRTs) and Agile Enhancement Teams (AETs). Kathy’s peers recognize her as a trusted expert in AASHTOWare Project, both within MDT and nationally.
Kathy was directly involved in the 2006 implementation of SiteManager in MDT and has continued her involvement as AASHTOWare products have evolved and grown in usage in the agency. Kathy has also been directly involved when MDT has served as an AASHTOWare Project Beta agency.
Kathy shares Lisa’s dedication and passion for AASHTOWare Project, and it’s the PTF’s honor to present her with the award. As this year’s recipient, Kathy will receive a scholarship to cover the cost of attending the 2024 PUG conference, including registration fees, hotel, meals, and travel expenses. Kathy will also be recognized at the conference in Oklahoma City later this year.
The PTF would like to take this opportunity to thank those who submitted nominations. All this year’s nominees were great candidates, and each of them are to be commended for their contributions to the community! The other nominees were:
- Jennifer Carlson (Minnesota DOT)
- Adam Spitzley (Michigan DOT)
- Rich Ramsland (New York State DOT)
Now we need you! The PTF is accepting nominations now for the 2025 award. Please nominate those who you think share Lisa’s passion and dedication to AASHTOWare Project here. Remember that previous nominees can be nominated again!