ASCE has honored David F. Garber, P.E., F.ASCE, with the 2020 Surveying and Mapping Award for significant contributions to the advancement of the Surveying and Geomatics Division, including lengthy service as chair and in key leadership roles that led to the Division joining the Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute.
Garber has practiced land surveying and civil engineering for over 40 years, and during that time he has contributed substantially to both professions. He is president of Garber-Chilton Engineers & Land Surveyors, a full-service civil engineering and land surveying firm located in LaGrange, Kentucky. He directs business development, engineering design, land surveying and structural analysis, and serves as an expert witness in litigation cases involving construction, drainage and boundary disputes.
He has been active in land surveying for 50 years, having become a field crew chief at the age of 16 and licensed as a professional surveyor at age 23. He has directed thousands of boundary, topographic and control surveys, as well as field surveys required in litigation, for land areas ranging in size from small individual lots to several hundred acres. Recently he has been involved in several commercial and industrial developments that required integrating land surveying, civil engineering and structural design.
Garber has been an active member ASCE since becoming a student member in the early 1970s. Since then he has remained continuously involved in the Society, including as governor, president and chair of multiple groups and committees, and as a contributing author to two ASCE technical publications. He continues his support of ASCE by currently serving as chair of the UESI Surveying Committee.
In summary, Garber is a consummate professional who has spent his career actively engaged in surveying and engineering. His contributions have made an indelible positive impact on both fields.
The Surveying and Mapping Award recognizes contributions to the advancement of surveying and mapping either in teaching, writing, research, planning, design, construction or management.
