Jonathan E. Upchurch, Ph.D., P.E., PTOE (Ret.), Dist.M.ASCE, a professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at Arizona State University, has been honored with election by the American Society of Civil Engineers for its class of 2025 Distinguished Members. He is recognized for his many and varied contributions to the civil engineering profession, including exemplary and tireless service and leadership in national professional organizations, research, and leadership in traffic control devices, policy, and civil engineering history.
Upchurch, a “renaissance man” in the field of civil engineering, has gained particular eminence in the area of transportation/traffic engineering. One of his major contributions to the profession is his years of work with the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The committee makes recommendations to the Federal Highway Administration on the content of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, establishing standards for the uniformity, appearance, application, and installation of all forms of traffic control devices.
Most recently, Upchurch contributed to the committee’s input and actions on the development of the 11th edition of the Manual, released in December 2023 and currently in the adoption process by each of the States.
Upchurch has a distinguished career as a civil engineering practitioner, teacher, researcher, historian, and advocate. The breadth and depth of his professional practice have been a huge asset to the development of public policy by ASCE. In his many years of public policy work, he has been a tireless advocate for precision in the development of statements of policy for adoption by the ASCE Board of Direction.
He has also been a leader in and a staunch advocate for the advancement of policy statements that are universal in applicability to our profession, as opposed to only addressing policy-issue application to the United States. His efforts in this regard have resulted in a body of policy statements that reflect the interest of all Society members.
Upchurch’s work over the past five decades linking engineering with public policy shows a sustained commitment to excellence and has created a legacy among the communities and engineering professionals benefitting from his expertise.
His volunteer leadership role with the greatest impact on the profession was his service as the elected international president of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. He has served on 13 committees or panels for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Most notably, he has always sought to bring the story of civil engineering history to the general public.
