CHRISTOPHER A. HART was sworn in as a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and designated by President Obama as the agency’s vice chairman in August. Most recently, Hart was deputy director for air traffic safety oversight at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He was previously the FAA assistant administrator for the Office of System Safety. Hart served as a member of the NTSB from 1990 to 1993. After leaving the board, he served as deputy administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. His term as NTSB’s vice chairman will run for two years, and his overall term with the agency will expire in December 2012.

CHARLIE HOOD, Florida’s state pupil transportation director, has received the 2009 Peter J. Grandolfo Memorial Award of Excellence. The honor, sponsored annually by Sure-Lok, recognizes exemplary service in child safety. The late Grandolfo was a veteran Chicago pupil transportation administrator and special-needs authority. The award was presented to Hood at the STN Expo in Reno, Nev., in late July. In addition to his duties with the Florida Department of Education, Hood currently serves as president of the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, and he is a member of SCHOOL BUS FLEET’s editorial advisory board. Hood has also served as steering committee chairman of the National Congress on School Transportation. He has been involved in the industry for three decades.

Cobb County School District (CCSD) in Marietta, Ga., honored the work and service of retired Executive Director of Transportation CARROLL PITTS by dedicating its transportation center to him. The dedication ceremony was attended by a variety of guests, including state pupil transportation director CARLTON ALLEN, CCSD officials and members of Pitts’ family. Pitts retired from the district in December 2007 after 25 years of service. He is a member of the National Association for Pupil Transportation Hall of Fame. RICK GRISHAM is CCSD’s current executive director of transportation.

PEARL PAULSON, a school bus driver for Florence (S.D.) School District 14-1, in August received the South Dakota School Transportation Association’s (SDSTA) 2008-09 School Bus Driver of the Year award. Paulson has been a school bus driver for 44 years. She began her career in the industry by working for her father, who held a contract to provide bus service for the district. In addition to a daily route, Paulson is the district’s primary driver for athletic and field trips.

JOYCE and GEORGE KORN, founders of Safeway Training and Transportation Services Inc., have been named New Hampshire’s Small Business Persons of the Year for 2009 by the New Hampshire Small Business Administration. Safeway Training and Transportation Services is a member of the New Hampshire School Transportation Association (NHSTA).

In other NHSTA news, PERCY ABBOTT of First Student Inc. in Salem received Cornerstone Association Management’s (CAM) Cornerstone Award at NHSTA’s annual meeting in June. Each year, CAM recognizes an NHSTA member who exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism. WALTER PERRY, the association’s executive director, presented the award to Abbott. Perry said Abbott personified the spirit of volunteerism by organizing a series of meetings with NHSTA members to review the state’s school bus transportation rules and to develop a list of recommended changes. In addition, Abbott has played an active role in the association’s legislative efforts by testifying at public hearings that were held on several bills.

LUCY MENA-QUINN has joined Transfinder Corp. as applications specialist, and STACY LAMPMAN has joined the company as customer project manager. Mena-Quinn is responsible for educating and training Transfinder’s clients to utilize its software solutions to better manage their districts’ pupil transportation operations and communications. Lampman will work closely with clients to achieve their software objectives by managing their timeline and ensuring that they are moving at a productive pace, as well as using available resources efficiently.

STAN SINTON of Sinton Transportation passed away in August after a long battle with cancer. Sinton’s father, Floyd, founded the company. When Sinton began working at the company in 1988, he expanded its fleet — which up until then only consisted of school buses — to include motorcoaches, limousines and transit buses. He also expanded the company’s school bus division outside of Simcoe County, Ontario, into York — a community in Toronto. Sinton had been a director of the Ontario School Bus Association since April 2002; he served as its president from 2006 to 2008.