Archived News

Newly inducted Diplomate, Shamsher Prakash, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, Dist.M.ASCE becomes latest D.GE honored with Distinguished Membership within ASCE

Distinguished Membership is the highest recognition the Society may confer, second only to the title ASCE President. It is reserved for members of the Society who have attained the grade of Member or Fellow and who demonstrate acknowledged eminence in some branch of engineering or in its related arts and sciences. The Class of 2011 was formally inducted during the 141st Annual Civil Engineering Conference in Memphis, Tenn. on October 20, 2011. Since 1852, only 615 individuals have been elected to Distinguished Membership. The complete listing of the Class of 2011 can be found on ASCE’s website by clicking here.

Tom O'Rourke, Hon.D.GE, joins ASCE's TCLEE to visit New Zealand Earthquake Site

Tom O'Rourke, PhD, Hon.D.GE, M.ASCE, along with members of the Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering (TCLEE) visited the devastation left in February's deadly earthquake. Their mission was to investigate and document the performance of lifelines in the face of shaking and liquefaction. Helping to organize access to the various places where information needs collection is the Lifeline Council of New Zealand, the research institute GNS Science, and the University of Canterbury. To read more about Tom's visit, please read the article in April's ASCE news(page 9), by clicking here.

Goble wins 2011 Gerwick Award

Congratulations to George G. Goble, PhD, PE, D.GE, M.ASCE who is the 2011 recipient of the Ben C. Gerwick Award. This is given each year for Innovation in the Design and Construction of Marine Foundations. The Awards dinner will be held on June 9th at the DFI Marine Foudations Specialty Seminar in San Francisco, California. If you are in the area and would like to attend, please register by clicking here.

Blaine Leonard, P.E., D.GE, Pres.10.ASCE, Points to Vision 2025 in Farewell Speech

During his farewell speech at ASCE’s 140th Annual Civil Engineering Conference, in Las Vegas, Nevada last fall, Blaine Leonard, P.E., D.GE, Pres.10.ASCE, emphasized the importance of ASCE’s Vision 2025 to the United States. He stated that many of the modern man-made marvels are really the work of civil engineers (such as the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Saint Louis Arch, etc.). Two questions he raised were - “How do we top that?” and “Where do we go from here?”. Read more about his speech on ASCE News - please click here.

ASFE/The Geoprofessional Business Association
Ethics course (three hours)

ASFE is offering a three hour course on ethics. Ethics is an important subject to geotechnical engineers. Several states mandate ethics education as part of their renewal process. Almost alll states give continuing-education credits for ethics courses. AGP requires 4 hours of ethics every two years for recertification in the Academy. As important as receiving credit for taking ethics is, there is an even greater importance than that. Many geoprofessionals have not had ethics courses in college and may even have an improper outlook about ethics now that they are working in the profession. According to ASFE's business philosophy: "There is only one road that will take geoprofessionals to a profitable future: The high road; the one paved with good ethical decisions". In short, they state, "Good ethics is good business" - and the Academy agrees with their point. Please click here to find out more about their offerings.

Dr. Nelson, Hon.D.GE, named 2011 Michel Award winner

Congratulations to Priscilla Nelson, Ph.D., Hon.D.GE, Dist.M.ASCE for winning ASCE's 2011 Henry L. Michel Award for Industry Advancement of Research. She will be receiving her award at the 2011 OPAL Gala in Washington, D.C. in the spring. The Award is given to someone whose dedication and aggressive vision have provided an increased quality of life to people around the world through research in the design and construction industry. More information about the award can be found by clicking here.

D.GE Shares Some Insights from 50 Years of Experience

George Tamaro, P.E., D.GE, NAE, Hon.M.ASCE, talks about his experiences and shares what he's learned in the latest edition of ASCE's podcast interviews with civil engineering leaders, Insights. To listen or download the Insights podcasts, please click here.

AGP Body of Knowledge Defined

In the middle of 2010, the Body of Knowledge (BoK) Committee, with the help of the Board of Trustees of the Academy and Stu Walesh, defined the BoK for the Diplomate, Geotechnical Engineering (D.GE) credential. It is now posted on the website. Please click here for the BoK (bottom of page).

Stokoe Receives Seed Medal

ASCE’s 2010 H. Bolton Seed Medal has been awarded to Kenneth Stokoe, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, M.ASCE, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to teaching, research, and practice in geotechnical engineering. To find our more about this honor, please see ASCE's webpage by clicking here.

AGP Mourns the passing of John A. Focht, Jr.

In October, AGP lost a legend in the Academy, John A. Focht, Jr., P.E., Hon.D.GE, Pres.90.ASCE. John lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on October 22, 2010. To read more about John's life and his contributions to geotechnical engineering, please read this article on ASCE's website. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Leonard Receives Award from CEC

ASCE Past-President Blaine D. Leonard, P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE, a founding AGP Diplomate was bestowed a special recognition award by the Civil Engineering Certification, Inc. (CEC) for his leadership, service and contributions to advocate professional specialty certification in civil engineering at the recent ASCE’s American Academy of Water Resources Engineers special Fall Ceremony during the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 140th Annual Conference on October 22. The special ceremony featured the three most recent ASCE Presidents including Kathy J. Caldwell, P.E., M.ASCE and D. Wayne Klotz, P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE. For more information, please click here: http://www.aawre.org/aawre-fall-ceremony-2010.cfm.

James L. Withiam, Ph.D., D.GE, M.ASCE wins the 2010 William H. Wisely American Civil Engineer Award

Dr. Withiam was approved by ASCE to receive the 2010 William H. Wisely American Civil Engineer award for his outstanding leadership in creating and delivering the flagship Institute magazine, GeoStrata, and as well as his leadership in the Task Committee in redesigning Civil Engineering magazine. For more information on the award, please click here.

Thorne Elected as New President-Elect of the Academy

Steven Thorne, P.E., D.GE, M.ASCE, of Melick-Tully and Associates, P.C. in Somerset, New Jersey was unanimously voted in as the Academy of Geo-Professional's (AGP) next President-Elect. Steve has served on the Board of Trustees of AGP since its inception in October 2008 and was also involved in the creation of the Academy. Steve's term as President-Elect began on October 1, 2010 and will continue through September 30, 2011. On October 1, 2011, Steve will become President of the Academy. This year's President, Arlan Rippe, stepped down on September 30, 2010 after two years of service to the Academy and many years involved with Civil Engineering Certification, Inc. (CEC). T. Michael McMillen is the current President of AGP (as of October 1, 2010).

Congratulations to Dr. Drnevich for achieving Distinguished Member status with ASCE

For his pioneering work that shaped the geotechnical engineering field through ingenious methods of measuring soil properties and for his distinguished service as an engineer, teacher, mentor, researcher and administrator who has been a major influence on thousands of students.

Interview with G. Wayne Clough - Hon.D.GE

Recently, Dr. Clough gave a presentation on sustainability to ASCE's National Capital Section. AGP staff was given the opportunity to interview him. To see his responses, please click here.

Thomas G. Krzewinski, D.GE, is awarded 2009 Engineer of the Year and also named president of the International Association of Cold Regions

Congratulations to Tom Krzewinski, P.E., D.GE, M.ASCE, with Golder Associates who was awarded the Engineers Week 2009 Engineer of the Year in a banquet held Saturday, February 20th, at the Egan Center in Anchorage. For more information on this great accomplishment, click here.

He was also selected as the new president of the International Association of Cold Regions Development Studies (IACORDS). IACORDS held its meeting during the 9th International Symposium on Cold Regions Development (ISCORD 2010), June 1-6, 2010, in Yakutsk, Russia. For more information about IACORDS and their involvement in the geo-profession, please click here.

Deep Foundations Institute’s Educational Trust announces scholarship named after Stanley Merjan, P.E., D.GE, M.ASCE

Stanley Merjan, a Senior Consultant at Underpinning & Foundation Skanska (UFS), has been with working in the geo-profession since he graduated in 1948 from the City College of New York (CCNY) with a B.C.E. In 1953, he began as a field superintendant with UFS. Merjan recently contributed to the CCNY Civil Engineering Scholarship and because of his generous donation, it was decided to name the scholarship fund in his honor. The scholarship is intended to fund at least two undergraduate engineers to further their education in the geo-profession at CCNY. To read more about Stanley Merjan and the CCNY Civil Engineering Scholarship, please click here.