Audrey Copeland to lead the National Asphalt Pavement Association

It’s official: Audrey Copeland is now President and CEO of the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA).

Although Copeland was announced as the association’s next president in September of 2018, her tenure officially began Jan. 22, 2019, during a ceremony at NAPA’s 64th annual meeting. She succeeds Mike Acott, who had served as NAPA’s President since 1992.

During the ceremony, Copeland addressed NAPA members and assured them she would continue NAPA’s work to “safeguard the asphalt industry, strengthen alliances and collaborations, and modernize the way the industry and the association do business,” said NAPA’s press release.

Audrey Copeland

“NAPA is in a position of strength and financially sound, having grown in membership and reputation over the past 30 years,” Copeland said, “We will continue to stay focused on delivering value to our members. Our willingness to take on challenges with integrity and a focus on collaboration will not change.”

Copeland joined NAPA in 2012 as its Vice President for Engineering, Research, and Technology, earning a number of victories, including building relationships with State Asphalt Pavement Associations, Asphalt Pavement Alliance, National Center for Asphalt Technology at Auburn University, the Asphalt Institute, Federal Highway Administration, and other industry professionals and partners.

She was also the technical lead for industry-funded research  projects totaling more than $2 million and secured a cooperative agreement with the FHWA that resulted in the investment of more than $2 million in government funding to advance asphalt technologies.

Prior to joining NAPA in 2012, Copeland was a highway and materials research engineer with FHWA. She holds a doctorate in Civil Engineering from Vanderbilt University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Tennessee Technological University. She is a licensed Professional Engineer in Maryland and Virginia.