National Engineering Society Installs New Officers

Media Contact:

Lindsay keller,
Communications Assistant
202-326-5131
lkeller@asce.org

Houston, TX, October 13, 2001 - The new officers for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) were installed today.

PRESIDENT-

H.G. "Gerry " Schwartz, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, Chairman of Sverdrup Civil, Inc., Maryland Heights, Missouri, assumed the office of president. Schwartz has spent his entire professional career with Sverdrup Civil, Inc., beginning as a design engineer in 1966, rising to president in 1993, and to his current position as chairman in 2000. He has been a member of ASCE for more than 40 years, serving as vice president from Zone III and director from District 16.

In 1995, Schwartz chaired the committee that prepared the Society's strategic plan, ASCE 2000: Working Drawings for the 21st Century. This plan has reshaped the Society and, as he sees it, "ASCE exists to meet the needs of its 123,000 individual members."

"It's a great time to be an engineer, especially a civil engineer," says Schwartz. "As in the rest of society, the Information Age is transforming, at warp speed, the way we prepare and deliver our work. At the same time, we are faced with the enormous task of renewing and replacing the physical infrastructure on which our society and economy are based." His belief is that a vigorous response to the challenge is needed and that ASCE must be at the forefront.

PRESIDENT-ELECT-

ASCE's president-elect is Thomas L. Jackson, F.ASCE, consulting transportation engineer and vice president of DMJM+HARRIS, New Orleans, Louisiana. He will assume the presidency in October 2002.

Jackson has held a variety of titles within the Society, namely national director, treasurer and vice president, chair of the Task Committee for Headquarters Relocation, president, vice-president, secretary-treasurer and director of the Louisiana Section, as well as being a member of the ASCE 2000 Strategic Plan Committee.

"Civil engineering has been both my profession and my passion for the last 40 years," says Jackson. "A significant amount of my time has been dedicated to improving our profession through activities in ASCE. The issues facing the Society today include globalization, the first professional degree, continuing professional development, service to membership, and developing alternative sources of revenue." Jackson contends he will continue to promote leadership within the Society and the profession itself.

VICE-PRESIDENTS-

Two vice presidents began two-year terms today: Jerry R. Rogers, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, and Maria C. Lehman, P.E., F.ASCE. Rogers, a doctoral professor at the University of Houston, will serve as vice president of ASCE's Zone III. Rogers has sat on the executive committee of the Society's Water Resources Division and the Environmental and Water Resources Institute for 11 years, chaired ASCE's History and Heritage Committee and is responsible for coordinating the Society's International History Congress that forms part of ASCE's 2001 Conference and Exposition in Houston.

Lehman, the commissioner of public works for Erie County, New York, will serve as vice president of ASCE's Zone I. Accountable for 500 employees, 1,200 road miles, 284 bridges, and 58 facilities, Lehman is also responsible for the county's weights and measures division, and a $60-million annual capital program. An active member of ASCE, Lehman served as president of the Buffalo Section and the director of District 1 from 1993 to 1996.

DIRECTORS-

Directors to seven of ASCE's 16 districts were elected to begin their three-year terms today:
• District 1-Bruce E. Podwal, P.E., F.ASCE, New York, New York
• District 4-John Frederick Graham, Jr., P.E., F.ASCE, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• District 12-Donald M. Phelps, P.E., M.ASCE, Chelan, Washington
• District 14-Dennis D. Truax, P.E., F.ASCE, Starkville, Mississippi
• District 15-David W. Klotz, P.E., F.ASCE, Houston, Texas
• District 16-Charles A. Tiltrum, P.E., L.S., M.ASCE, Aurora, South Dakota
• District International-Gamal H. Elsaeed, P.E., M.ASCE, Cairo, Egypt

Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 123,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society.