Dr. Velvet Basemera-Fitzpatrick

Program Officer, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Washington, D.C.

Velvet Basemera-Fitzpatrick, Ph.D. is a Program Officer, in Policy Studies, at the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Her policy portfolio focuses on Research, Development, and Technology (RD&T) agenda-setting challenges for federal transportation agencies. She also leads projects in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Standing Committee on the Environment (SCOE) and Standing Committee on Public Transportation (SCOPT). In addition, Dr. Fitzpatrick directed the Executive Committee's Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Initiative and constructed the now accepted D&I Management Plan. The D&I Initiative aimed to strengthen TRB's position as the premier forum for transportation innovation via research and convening.

Dr. Fitzpatrick earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering form Prairie View A&M University in 2007 and went on to earn her Master of Science in Civil Engineering and Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Education - via the College of Engineering - from Purdue University in 2009 and 2014, respectively. At Purdue, she worked for the Minority Engineering Program (MEP), Women In Engineering Program (WIEP), Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), and College of Engineering Graduate Programs, where she facilitated the launch of the Innovation to Reality (I2R) program, Future Engineering Faculty and Professionals (FEFP) program, and co-created a 12-week undergraduate research curriculum for SURF. She was also a 2-year volunteer editor for the Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research (JPUR). Dr. Fitzpatrick is enthusiastic about transportation innovation, research programming, and leadership.