James Richard “Jim” Nichols, P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, longtime leader of the Freese and Nichols consulting firm in Fort Worth, TX, has died at 92.
Nichols joined ASCE in 1949 as an undergraduate student at Texas A&M, and was elected a Distinguished Member in 2004 for his many career achievements.
Nichols worked to provide dependable water supplies for drought-ravaged cities of West Texas. He helped create water districts, raised project...
Resilience has become a buzzword in civil engineering circles, but for Gary Y.K. Chock, the concept is nothing new. Across a 35-year career, it has been part of what he considers good, fundamental common engineering sense.
“I’m really averse to the idea that we have to wait until people pay with economic losses or even their lives prior to there being a motivating factor to...
Kenneth C. Hover, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, world-renowned for his advances in concrete technology and construction, is among the recently elected Class of 2016 ASCE Distinguished Members.
A professor at Cornell University, Hover came to academia in mid-career, having been a military engineer, project manager for a general contractor, and partner and manager of a structural design firm. Cornell honored him with its highest teaching award,...
Pat Natale certainly remembers this part of his former duties.
Every spring the ASCE executive director calls each of the newly elected Distinguished Members to give them the good news. As recently as 2014, Natale made those calls, as he had for 12 years.
This time, though, the roles were reversed.
“Receiving that call this year was quite interesting,” said Natale, P.E., CAE, Dist.M.ASCE, the former...
Heinz G. Stefan has approached his life and career with a seemingly infinite capacity for adaptability – always ready to find the next innovation and solve the next problem.
That ability has helped make Stefan, Dr.Ing., Dist.M.ASCE, a world leader in water resources and environmental engineering, and a worthy addition to the ASCE Class of 2016 Distinguished Members.
Much of that gift for adaptability is talent....
For world-renowned contributions to the understanding of soil dynamics in geotechnical engineering, Kenneth H. Stokoe II, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, NAE, Dist.M.ASCE, has been elected to the Class of 2016 ASCE Distinguished Members.
Stokoe is the Jennie C. and Milton T. Graves chair in engineering at the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering.
Engineers worldwide now use the resonant column apparatus Stokoe developed to...
California has had more than its fair share of water crises in recent years, but fortunately, it can tap Jay Lund’s abilities to help solve the problem.
Acclaimed in the Golden State as a leader in reservoir management and operation, water demand management, and incorporation of water markets into water resources systems, Lund, Ph.D., F.EWRI, Dist.M.ASCE, has had a significant influence on state and federal...
No matter the job or the size of its budget, James A. Rispoli always has maintained the same management principles.
“You have to be familiar with what you’re doing and you have to have frequent engagement with your people,” Rispoli said. “It takes a lot of work – frequent dialogue at all the different locations.
“You’re not going to find out what’s going on by reading....
M. Hanif Chaudhry is a global engineer in every sense.
He grew up in Pakistan, studied in Vancouver, and today at the University of South Carolina is associate dean of the College of Engineering and Computing.
Chaudhry’s computational models of hydraulic transients are applied by engineers around the world, and he serves as a consultant to projects on six continents. His work on resonance in pipelines...
The life of a road warrior is never easy.
Business travelers spend many hours in airports, airplanes, and hotels when their careers require travel. Often travel turns into adventure, with delays, cancellations, and other unforeseen challenges which cause down time. Many people are looking for ways to use that down time more productively and with purpose.
Paul Giroux, Dist.M.ASCE, is one of the talented few to manage...
