Distinguished Member Joel Ivan Abrams, chairman of the University of Pittsburgh’s civil engineering department for more than 20 years and a past president of ASCE’s Pittsburgh Section, has died at 88. Abrams, P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, served as department chairman from the mid-1960s through 1987, and was founding director of Pitt’s groundbreaking program in public works. “He was a passionate defender of the value and the transformational
Thomas J. Grizzard Jr., professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech and director of its Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory for 40 years, has died at 70. His expertise in the urban water cycle and four decades of work at the laboratory made Grizzard, Ph.D., M.ASCE, so influential, he would be known as “the protector of the Occoquan.” He also served Virginia Tech
Many ASCE members are making civil engineering history and heritage part of their vacation plans this summer. In celebration of the Visit ASCE Landmarks campaign, Society members have been posting and tagging photos of their travels to various ASCE Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks. There are more than 200 to choose from. Members have repped ASCE from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon, with a lot of
So, you are signed up for an upcoming civil engineering conference, and now it’s time to start putting together a plan to ensure that you get the most out of the event. I know what you are thinking. A plan? Seriously? I am busy enough as it is with my projects, I don’t have time to plan ahead for a conference. Well, I’m here to
For now, Robin Kemper has the rather cumbersome title of ASCE President-Elect-Elect. It’ll get streamlined this fall when she assumes the role of 2018 President-Elect at the ASCE 2017 Convention in New Orleans, forming an all-female leadership triumvirate with 2018 President Kristina Swallow and 2018 Past-President Norma Jean Mattei. A senior risk engineering consultant for Zurich Services Corp. in New Jersey, Kemper, P.E., LEED AP,
Distinguished Member Miguel A. Mariño, U.S. representative to the International Association of Hydrological Sciences from 2003 through 2008 and a prolific groundwater hydrology researcher, has died. He was 76. Mariño was distinguished professor emeritus of hydrologic sciences in the University of California, Davis departments of civil and environmental engineering, and biological and agricultural engineering. The products of Mariño’s research have been adopted around the world,
Distinguished Member John M. Hanson, nationally renowned as an investigator of high-profile failures of concrete and steel structures, and a former president of Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc., has died. He was 84. Hanson, Ph.D., P.E., NAE, Dist.M.ASCE, retired from WJE’s board of directors in 2014 after a 42-year career with the firm, including serving as president from 1979 through 1992. He managed some of
Steven P. Reiner of Upland, CA, a versatile engineer in southern California and Denver known for his work in commercial land development, has died. He was 66. Reiner, P.E., M.ASCE, was a project manager with Psomas based in Los Angeles. He was a licensed civil engineer for more than 40 years. Over the course of his career, he rose to become vice president of Hall
Indrajit J. Ghosh, a widely traveled civil and environmental engineer on nuclear power projects who served as a local ASCE president in South Carolina and Washington state, has died at the age of 73. Ghosh, P.E., F.ASCE, began his career in 1967 in his native India, then left for the United Kingdom a year later. At the height of nuclear power projects, he emigrated to
