ASCE has honored Orson P. Smith III, Ph.D., P.E., D.CE, D.PE., M.ASCE, with the 2023 Harold R. Peyton Award for Cold Regions Engineering for his lifelong career in cold regions and coastal ports engineering and his involvement in global climate change, in addition to his career as a civil engineering professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage. 

Smith has impressive experience in managing port dredging and surveying operations for USACE, Anchorage, as principal investigator for coastal and ports engineering throughout Alaska. His work as principal investigator of applied research and public works projects at the Coastal Engineering Research Center, Vicksburg, Mississippi, involved him in coastal studies in Alaska, Barbados, West Indies, and Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.

He was director and sole proprietor of Smith Ocean Science & Engineering, Clayton, North Carolina. Since 1998 he has been a professor in the civil engineering department, School of Engineering, at University of Alaska Anchorage. He is the co-author of many articles and research papers. 

The Harold R. Peyton Award for Cold Regions Engineering is presented to a member of the Society who has made outstanding contributions to cold region engineering or to a basic understanding of cold environments, including dissemination of knowledge of cold climates technology, through publishing innovative technical or research papers.

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