University of Minnesota Duluth graduate student Jason Weaver has been named a 2017 Traffic Safety Scholar (TSS) and awarded a $1,000 scholarship to attend the 35th annual National Lifesavers Conference on Highway Safety Priorities, March 25-28 in Charlotte, N.C.
Weaver, who is pursuing a master’s degree in Tribal Administration and Governance, is one of 38 U.S. and Canadian college students selected through a competitive application process. The Lifesavers Conference showcases the latest research, evidence-based strategies, proven countermeasures, and promising new approaches for addressing the nation’s most pressing traffic safety problems.
“It is an honor to be chosen to attend this conference and to receive this scholarship. I am excited to learn about new and improved ways to enhance road safety," Weaver said.
Traffic safety issues are important to Weaver on a personal level and finding options to provide better traffic conditions, safe routes for pedestrians and motorcycle awareness are just a few of his ongoing activities. His mother was severely injured in a hit-and-run accident that left her incapacitated and wheelchair bound for life when he was very young. His wife, Sheelah Weaver, was in a fatal motorcycle accident in 2014 after a collision with an animal.
Weaver is a resident and citizen of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. He is a graduate of the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe Community College where he received an Associate’s Degree in Science. He graduated from U.W. Superior with a B.S. Sustainable Business Management.
He is an Army Veteran, having served from 1992 to 1995. He currently serves on the Tribal Governing Board and among other duties is a liaison to the Tribal Roads Department. He is the father of three: Jacob, Jraydian, and Aurelia Weaver.
Weaver and his fellow Traffic Safety Scholars will be honored at a pre-conference reception on March 24 in Charlotte. They’ll have the opportunity to participate in three plenary sessions and more than 80 workshops featuring leading experts in the field of distracted and impaired driving and walking; child passenger, pedestrian, bicycle, motorcycle, teen, and older driver safety; adult occupant protection; vehicle technology; law enforcement; commercial vehicles; roadway design; and more.
This is the second year of the Traffic Safety Scholars program, which provides college students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees the opportunity to attend the Lifesavers Conference, the largest gathering of traffic safety professionals in the U.S.
The goal of the TSS program is to showcase the diversity of opportunities in traffic safety and encourage students, regardless of discipline, to pursue a career in a dynamic field that draws from a variety disciplines from engineering, education and enforcement to communications, business, marketing, medicine, public health, political science, counseling, and more.
Visit the Masters of Tribal Administration and Governance website.