Patricia Fossum Waller
Patricia Fossum Waller died at her home Aug. 15 at age 70, following a nine-month battle with metastatic colon cancer. Waller was trained as a clinical psychologist and had a distinguished career as a leading research scientist and advocate for policy reform in the area of transportation safety and injury control. She worked tirelessly to ensure that research findings were implemented through legislative and administrative measures, and that injury control and the health and human dimensions were incorporated into the national transportation agenda.
Waller was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and grew up in Miami. She received B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Miami, and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill in 1959. After practicing and conducting research as a clinical psychologist, she joined the UNC Highway Safety Research Center in 1967. There she served as associate director for driver studies for 20 years and was a faculty member of the UNC School of Public Health.
In 1987, she became the founding director of the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, a center of excellence funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1989, she became director of the Transportation Research Institute at U-M, where she held academic appointments in the schools of Medicine and Public Health, and the Department of Psychology. She retired from U-M in 1999 but continued to be engaged actively in research projects around the world and authored publications until shortly before her death.
Waller believed in the importance of translating scientific knowledge into tangible action. She served on expert committees for the National Research Council’s Transportation Research Board, the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. She was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee, served on the President’s Council on Spinal Cord Injury, and was a past president of the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. She also took her message to the public, speaking frequently before community and professional groups and making appearances in the national news media.
Waller received numerous honors during her career, including the American Psychological Association’s Hildreth Award for Public Service (1993), the Distinguished Career Award from the Injury Control and Emergency Health Services Section of the American Public Health Association (1994), the Transportation Research Board’s Roy W. Crum Award for Outstanding Achievement in Transportation Research (1995), the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety’s Widmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Knowledge on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety (1995), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Special Award of Appreciation (1999), and the National Safety Council’s Distinguished Service to Safety Award (2003).
She is survived by her loving family: her husband, Marcus Waller; daughters Anna Waller (Steve Marshall) and Martha Waller; sons Justin Waller (Ann Marie) and Ben Waller (Carrie); and four grandchildren. She leaves behind many research colleagues and former graduate students whose work in transportation safety and public health was influenced profoundly by her vision of a better world through safer, more human-oriented transportation systems.
Waller was known for her infectious enthusiasm, her inquiring mind and her passion for life. She challenged others to think deeply about what was wrong in the world and how best to right it. The depth and vigor of her intellect, and her passionate concern for justice in human society, was an inspiration to all.
A memorial service in celebration of her life will be at 3 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Community Church of Chapel Hill. Her family asks that, in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to U-M’s Patricia F. Waller Scholarship Fund, which supports graduate student research in transportation science. Checks should be made to the University of Michigan and sent to: The Patricia F. Waller Scholarship Fund, University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 2901 Baxter Road, Room 154, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2150.
