Peter Savolainen is an MSU Research Foundation Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University. Dr. Savolainen's research examines the fundamental nature of road user behavior, particularly how traffic safety and operations are influenced by behavior in consideration of roadway and traffic characteristics.

His research has advanced fundamental knowledge as to how roadway design, environmental factors, and in-vehicle distractions affect the risk of traffic crashes. His work has informed transportation policy decisions, resulted in changes to geometric design guidance, and provided critical insights to allow transportation agencies and professionals to make more well-informed and data-driven decisions that lead to safer and more efficient transportation systems.

Dr. Savolainen has procured more than $20M in research funding, and published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, highlighted by a series of contributions in the areas of naturalistic driving research, countermeasure evaluation, and crash-injury severity analysis. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of the ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems, as well as on the editorial advisory boards of Accident Analysis and Prevention and Analytic Methods in Accident Research. He is the Chair of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Education Council and is also a member of the Transportation Research Board Standing Committee on Safety Data, Analysis, and Performance. Dr. Savolainen is a registered professional engineer in the state of Michigan.