CCEE Hall of Fame

National impact on the transportation industry and highway development, and key contributions to industry education and research

Inducted 2021

Thomas Agg was born in 1878 in Fairfield, Iowa. He received two bachelor’s degrees concurrently from Iowa State College in electrical and civil engineering in 1911.

After graduation, he went to the University of Illinois to teach and work for the Illinois State Highway Department as a road engineer. Agg became chair of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials before returning to Iowa State to be an assistant professor.

Agg became the dean of engineering and director of the Engineering Extension Experiment Station. When it came time for retirement, he returned to full-time research in highway engineering. In his career, he authored 111 publications.

During World War I, Agg served as the first captain with the 108th engineers and later as a major in command of the 95th Engineer Special Service Battalion. Before teaching, he was a consulting road engineering for the Iowa Highway Commission and a highway research specialist for the Bureau of Public Roads. Agg represented American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) at the organizational meeting of the Highway Research Board (HRB) in 1920 and chaired the HRB executive committee in 1927.