Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Reston, Va.—Lester A. Hoel, EngD, P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, NAE, L. A. Lacy Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, at the University of Virginia, was recently named a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). ASCE’s highest accolade, distinguished membership recognizes eminence in a branch of engineering, and is currently comprised of only 192 of the Society’s 144,000 members worldwide. Hoel will be formally inducted, in honor of his contributions to civil engineering, at the Celebration of Leaders luncheon during ASCE’s 140th Annual Civil Engineering Conference in Las Vegas, which will be held from October 21 to 23, 2010.
ASCE is recognizing Hoel for his sustained and outstanding contributions to the advancement of transportation engineering through teaching, research and service. He has also demonstrated leadership in university education and administration in the planning, management, operations and policy for urban, intermodal and highway transportation systems.
Hoel’s career in academia spans more than four decades and has focused on the management, planning, operations and design of surface transportation infrastructure. His research contributions have dealt with infrastructure issues such as advanced transit technology applications, design of public transportation terminals, transit security, as well as smart growth and land use.
Hoel began his career at San Diego State College, after which he taught traffic studies at the Norwegian Technical University in Trondheim and performed research with the Institute of Transport Economy in Oslo. Following his return to the U.S., he taught at Carnegie Mellon University and eventually joined the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Virginia as the Hamilton Professor and Chairman.
A long-time, active member of the civil engineering and transportation communities, Hoel is a former president of the Council of University Transportation Centers, and was the division chair for the National Research Council oversight of the Transportation Research Board. He is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Technological Sciences and the honor societies Sigma Xi, Chi Epsilon and Tau Beta Pi. In 1989 Hoel was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
Hoel has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the City College of New York, a master’s degree in civil engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and a doctorate in engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He is a registered professional engineer in Virginia, and currently resides in St. Helena, California.
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) represents more than 144,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America’s oldest national engineering society. For more information, visit www.asce.org.
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Media contact: Leikny Johnson, 703-295-6413, ljohnson@asce.org