Beyond these new additions, who bring extensive transportation insights to the council, there are four other changes to the roster. From Ford Motor Company, Bob Holycross, Vice President and Chief Sustainability, Environment and Safety Officer, and Karl Siebertz, Head of External Alliances, Europe, will replace Ford’s previous representative, Bill Frykman. Similarly, Phil Frederick, Deputy Chief Scientist for the U.S. Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), who has succeeded Denise Rizzo at GVSC, will now be a member. Beth Silver, Manager of Mobility Strategy and Marketing, Americas for Bosch, also will be joining as a second Bosch representative on the council. In total, the council includes 17 outside members representing 11 organizations spanning the automotive, technology, utility, defense, and government sectors.
Established in April 2021, the MSU Mobility Advisory Council was created to help guide the university’s mobility work, with members assisting in identifying vital research projects, core problems that need to be addressed, and key areas of focus. With last year’s hire of Judd Herzer as Mobility Director, who has been leading MSU Mobility since July 2023, a large focus of the council now will center on sharpening the university’s vision for the future of mobility, deepening industry partnerships, and continuing Spartans’ leadership in the state as the top producer of mobility engineering, software, and executive talent. “Our new leaders from Ford, Magna, MDOT, Alta, Bosch, and the U.S. Army Ground Vehicle Systems Center will be tremendous additions to this council as we look toward helping Michigan — and the world — realize the full potential of mobility,” said Herzer, who is also a member of the council. “Gaining powerful insight from diverse perspectives represented by the council’s range of executives and companies is incredibly valuable and will help us enhance the way people and goods safely, efficiently, and sustainably move across transportation sectors around the globe.” “MSU is a huge contributor to the mobility talent pool that makes up Michigan’s workforce after graduation, so we are thrilled to become members of the MSU Mobility Advisory Council and further support the talent and innovation coming out the university,” Wieferich said. “We look forward to collaborating with this impressive group to offer our guidance and expertise related to infrastructure development, traffic and safety, and discussing the new era of mobility with other like-minded industry stakeholders.”
