SPENCER — The N.C. Transportation Hall of Fame will honor five award-winners during the fourth annual induction and awards ceremony to be held Oct. 23 from 11:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the N.C. Transportation Museum.

Honors include the Founders' Award, Perley A. Thomas Award, Earl E. Congdon Jr. Award, Thomas H. Davis Award and, for the first time, the Nello L. Teer Sr. Award.

The 2007 Founders' Award will go to the University of North Carolina Center for Highway Safety Research in recognition of the center's national and international leadership in all facets of highway safety research for more than 40 years.

Phillip R. Wadsworth, a 28-year veteran of the N.C. Highway Patrol with Troop D from Greensboro, will receive the Perley A. Thomas Award to recognize his efforts in statewide school bus safety, including two award-winning advertising poster campaigns in cooperation with Thomas Built Buses.

The Earl E. Congdon Jr. Award, will be presented to Tony A. Pope for his service with the trucking industry in North Carolina, including board chairmanship of the N.C. Trucking Association.

The N.C. Department of Transportation Aviation Division will receive the Thomas H. Davis Award for promoting the economic well being of North Carolina through air transportation system development and improved aviation safety and education for 40 years.

A new award this year is the Nello L. Teer Sr. Award for excellence in transportation construction. This award will be presented to representatives of U.S. 301 in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the highway's federal designation in North Carolina, and for providing significant north-south connectivity to Eastern North Carolina communities.

To reserve a ticket to the 2007 N.C. Transportation Hall of Fame induction and awards ceremony, visit www.ncthf .org or call David Robinson at 919-272-0063. Tickets are $30 per person and include lunch.

The N.C. Transportation Hall of Fame was founded in 2003 to honor individuals and organizations who have contributed to transportation progress in North Carolina. The 2007 inductees include Willard F. Babcock, C. Grier Beam, John Blue, Richard J. Corbitt, Z. Smith Reynolds, Richard J. Reynolds Jr., C. Edwin Vick Jr. and Seth T. Wooten Sr.