Remarks of W. F. Marcuson III, Ph.D., P.E., Hon.M.ASCE
ASCE Annual Conference, Nov. 2, 2007
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Good morning. It seems like just yesterday that I was speaking with you in Chicago at last year's conference. I cannot explain in words what a pleasure it has been to serve ASCE this past year.
I have traveled around the country and around the world representing ASCE before business leaders and senior government officials. I've been interviewed on national television, and even done interviews with the international media. ASCE is a tremendously influential organization, and serving as its president has been a gratifying -- and humbling -- experience.
Most importantly, wherever I've traveled I've had an opportunity to meet with ASCE members. Whether we were renewing old friendships or making new acquaintances, my wife Margaret and I were met with wonderful hospitality, understanding, patience and generosity. The friendships we've made will forever remain a hallmark for us both. Thanks to each of you.
I've especially enjoyed meeting so many students and younger members. As I've neared the end of my term in office, I've reflected on the future that awaits these promising young people. They enter the profession at a time when it faces a challenging, if not uncertain, future.
In many respects, civil engineering is as dynamic and rigorous as ever. America will need to invest at least $1.6 trillion over the next five years just to maintain its infrastructure at current levels. Meeting the needs of our growing population, which is expected to reach 335 million by 2020, will require further investment. And let's not forget that providing for our needs while protecting the environment will require new technology and new solutions. Add to this the growing global design and construction market and civil engineers should prosper for decades to come.
Yet, I am troubled that, in a period of just two years, there have been three catastrophic engineering failures: the breaches of the levees in New Orleans, the ceiling collapse in one of Boston's Big Dig tunnels, and most recently the catastrophic failure of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis. Collectively, these tragic incidents threaten to undermine the public's trust in civil engineers and perhaps even our standing as a profession. That's a pretty bold statement, but if you'll permit me to share my thoughts on our profession and professionalism, I think you'll see why.
If you look up the word "profession," you'll find the following traits or characteristics:
A) Professions possess a specialized body of knowledge derived from extensive academic study, with the training, almost always formalized.
B) Professions are self regulating, in that they control the training and evaluation process that admit new persons to the field, and in that they judge whether the work done by their members is up to standard.
C) Professions are expected to use their independent judgment and professional ethics in carrying out their responsibilities.
D) Professions provide a service in accordance with established protocols for licensing, ethics, standards of service, and training/certification.
I think that ASCE and its members have worked hard over the last several years to ensure that civil engineering continues to meet the characteristics of a profession and that civil engineering is not relegated to the position of being a commodity. We have always been-and must in the future continue to be -- PROFESSIONALS. I hope you agree.
Let me tell you how proud I am of you and of ASCE for all you are doing to insure our position as a society of PROFESSIONALS. We have done more to move engineering further into the professional arena than any other engineering society and maybe more than all the others combined. For example, let me tell you about a meeting I attended with the leadership of one of the other "big-four" engineering societies earlier this year. With one exception, these leaders questioned the need for further engineering education. They questioned the need for registration. And they questioned the criticality of the issues of globalization and off-shoring. This is the case with almost every other discipline-specific engineering society. ASCE is clearly leading the way. Perhaps this is as it should be. Would you want others leading us?
A primary example of ASCE being a leader and stepping forward relates to our development of Policy Statement 465 and its vision of raising the educational requirements for entry into our profession as a licensed professional engineer. Back in 1997 and 1998, when Lu Graef was President of ASCE, he challenged us to "raise the bar" for professional practice and to pass Policy 465. Our Board did this in Oct., 1998. While it seems like just yesterday, that was almost 10 years ago. Initially, ASCE struggled to get consensus on the topic of PS 465 and for the first several years worked and reworked the concept. ASCE is an organization that runs on consensus. I've learned and relearned that several times during the past two years. Let me remind you that as you drive around this country of ours, you never come to a town square with a monument dedicated to a committee. Consensus, almost by definition, is not quick or innovative. Never-the-less, ASCE is leaning forward in the foxhole, especially in relation to our fellow engineering societies.
Another example is our ASCE Summit held in June 2006, establishing a vision of where we want the civil engineer to be in 2025. Led by David Mongan, this summit brought together 60 of the top leaders and thinkers in civil engineering to envision the role of our profession in the changing world. The resulting vision is as follows:
Entrusted by society to create a sustainable world and enhance the global quality of life, civil engineers serve competently, collaboratively, and ethically as master:
Let me focus on the first three words "Entrusted by society?." Earlier, I mentioned my concern that recent engineering failures threaten to undermine public trust, and by extension our standing as professionals. I described them as engineering failures because, in my opinion, in every case, although the circumstances were markedly different and the causes were complex, the warnings and concerns expressed by civil engineers were insufficient to prevent these tragic events.
If we are to earn the public's trust, civil engineers are going to have to pay attention to detail, focus on public safety and welfare and take ownership of the public's infrastructure and environment. Clearly, upholding our professional obligation to protect health, safety and welfare requires more than technical expertise. Do civil engineers possess the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to practice as professionals in today's world? Are we prepared to lead the public to make the right decisions, and to understand the consequences of failing to do so? Are we willing to assume the personal and professional risk needed to exert our professional judgment? This will not be "business as usual" but it must be done. Public trust is something that we must earn. Note my emphasis on the word earn. Trust is like fine china; that is, easily broken and hard to mend.
Civil engineers must be actively involved in public policy decisions at all levels. We must present our positions based on data and facts, be clear, concise, honest. We must avoid all conflicts of interest and avoid self-promotion.
Let me share a short story related to our Civil Engineer 2025 Vision. When Professor Michael Chajes, the Civil Engineering Department Head at the Univ. of Delaware and a member of our "Summit Committee," asked one of his classes to read our draft report, the students, almost to a person, were excited, enthusiastic and wanted to be part of our journey. Just what we hoped for! We want young aspiring civil engineers to be excited about entering the practice of civil engineering at the professional level. We want them to see an opportunity to make a difference.
I'd like to personally thank David Mongan for his leadership of the Summit and for his ongoing commitment to realize this vision. I'm sure you'll hear more about this from David as he assumes the Office of the President.
Another story about those who are in the process of becoming civil engineers-Ben Abram, a civil engineering senior at Duke, reads and likes my blog. I should confess that at this time last year, I'd never seen a blog. Please remember, I'm a 1941 model. For those of you like me, blog is short for Web log, and it's kind of like an online diary. Now, with some help from ASCE staff, I've got a blog, and apparently, people actually read and enjoy it!
Anyway, Ben sends me an e-mail and wants to come to Vicksburg to visit me and talk about his future in civil engineering. I say fine and we set up a convenient time. Ben shows up with his buddy, also from Chapel Hill, North Carolina who happens to be an English major at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. My first thought was, these two could not be further apart personality wise. Wrong again! We three spend most of the day together chatting about anything they want to talk about, and I learn that Ben was President of his senior class at Duke, was recently elected as the student representative on the Duke University Board of Regents and is headed to NC State this fall working on a Master's degree in environmental engineering. Who says we aren't attracting some of the best into civil engineering. I think it was Ross Perot who said he hires "eagles," "and eagles do not flock." When you find an eagle you hire it. Ben is an eagle.
Another short story that I hope you'll find interesting - In September 2006, past president Dennis Martenson went to Alaska to represent ASCE at a meeting of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). During that meeting, and thanks to extremely hard work over the previous years, the NCEES model law for licensure was changed to reflect many of the principles embodied in ASCE's Policy Statement 465. Basically, the new model law says that (as of Jan.1, 2015) admission to the PE exam will require:
(1) an accredited bachelor's degree in engineering, with an additional 30 credits of acceptable upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level coursework and additional four years or more of progressive experience, or
(2) a master's degree in engineering, with a specific record of an additional three years or more of progressive experience. Without ASCE's leadership this change would have never happened. I do not want you to think that ASCE led that effort single handedly-we had help. Help from key leaders from the National Academy of Engineering, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the National Council of Examiners for Engineering & Surveying.
Now let's fast forward to this year's NCEES meeting in Philadelphia. The representatives from the states of Nevada and Maine have a motion to revisit and rescind the vote in 2006. Clearly with two groups in favor of rescinding, you get the motion and a second. Again after hard work by your leadership in the CAP3 arena (Committee on the Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice) this motion was defeated by a more substantial vote than last year. ASCE was doing what I call, leading from behind. Our work is far from over and we must remain focused on the target. This sets the stage for additional educational requirements to become a Professional Engineer no earlier than January 2015. That's about seven years off!
Our profession must be founded on "integrity and ethics." As with almost everything, I have a simple definition of integrity. It is "doing what you say you will do." Let me talk about ethical behavior just a moment. I think there is a difference between what's ethical and what's legal. When you are thinking ethics-you think-what is the right thing to do? When you are thinking legal-you think-will I get caught? These are two totally different concepts/questions. Our engineering careers must be based on integrity and ethics.
I'm getting short on time and I do not want to drag this out, so let me just hit on what I think are the key points. Many of you think of ASCE as a "technical society." That's true, but we are more than that. I'd ask that in the future when you speak about ASCE that you refer to us as a "Professional and Technical Society," because we are truly a society of professionals.
I want to re-emphasize that you should be proud of ASCE's recent accomplishments. Remember someone said, "a turtle only makes progress when it sticks its neck out." And let me also remind you that when we die the one thing we'll all regret is the risk we did not take.
As I have said before, civil engineers can engineer our future or others will engineer it for us. ASCE is moving the ball down the field. We are engineering our future. I'm proud to be a small part of it and I'm proud of each of you.
Let me take this opportunity to thank each of you for all you are doing for our profession. The mere fact that you are here today speaks volumes. I know just how busy each of you is. You put ASCE and our profession as the top priority on your list for today. That was the choice that each of you made. Each of you is a past, present and/or future leader of our society and our profession -- I appreciate all your efforts.
Our work is far from over. We must continue to press forward on all fronts. We are about to release the second edition of our civil engineering body of knowledge. We are pressing hard to improve accreditation criteria and processes. If we are leaders, we must continue this effort with enthusiasm and passion.
I am pleased to pass the torch to David Mongan. I know him to be a leader of integrity. His life has been founded in ethical behavior. He is perhaps the most prepared engineer I know to take over the office of President in recent years, having served in almost every chair within ASCE.
I hope you are as proud to be a member of ASCE as I am. It has been a real pleasure to serve you this last year. From the bottom of our hearts, Margaret and I thank you.
Before I step down, let me quote a line from a country music song, popular in the 1930's-"It is plowing time in the field of opportunities." Again, thank you.
