Stuart G. “Stu” Walesh, an ASCE Distinguished Member with a passion for the profession that never waned as he helped civil engineers of all ages to better themselves, often with a touch of humor, has died. He was 84.
With a reputation as a lifelong learner, Walesh, Ph.D., P.E., BC.WRE(Ret.), Dist.M.ASCE, F.NSPE, sought to infuse younger generations with his spirit of growth and self-improvement through knowledge, believing that civil engineers’ brains are wired differently, and in books including Introduction to Creativity and Innovation for Engineers published in 2017, offered ways for students and professionals to hone that mental ability by enhancing non-technical talents.
“Augmenting technical competencies with ‘soft-side’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes is the key to earning career security, a much more viable life strategy than chasing job security,” Walesh wrote on the website he maintained until last year, helpingyouengineeryourfuture.com (available archived), where he freely shared dozens of papers and essays on aspects of professional self-improvement. He authored several books to encourage and support students and younger engineers, notably Engineering Your Future: The Professional Practice of Engineering, in 2012.
“ASCE and the broader civil engineering community have lost a true champion,” said Thomas G. Lenox, ASCE executive vice president emeritus. “He was a valued friend and mentor to many, admired not only for his technical expertise, but also for his wisdom, character, and generosity of spirit.”
Walesh’s ASCE activities included serving as associate editor of the Journal of Management in Engineering, chairing the first Body of Knowledge committee, editing two BOK reports and The Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025. He was active in Raise the Bar, a longtime ASCE effort to reform the education and early experience of engineers.
He also chaired the Hydraulics Committee and the Urban Water Resources Research Council. As a National Society of Professional Engineers fellow, he helped assemble its body of knowledge.
Born in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, Walesh received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Valparaiso University, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. An independent consultant specializing in water resources engineering, he previously practiced in government, for an engineering firm, and held various positions at Valparaiso University and the University of Wisconsin.
As a consultant, Walesh assisted educational institutions, professional societies, government entities, and engineering firms with watershed planning, computer modeling, flood control, stormwater and floodplain management, groundwater, dam, and lake projects, and taught college and continuing education courses, conducted research and development, and served as an expert in litigation. He facilitated and made presentations at hundreds of workshops, seminars, classes, webinars, and meetings throughout the U.S. and globally.
Walesh served on the Indiana Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and was a member of advisory boards for the Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the universities of Wisconsin and Texas.
His many honors include awards from the American Society for Engineering Education, Consulting Engineers of Indiana, American Society of Civil Engineers, Indiana Society of Professional Engineers, National Society of Professional Engineers, Valparaiso University, and the University of Wisconsin.
“Stu’s legacy will endure through the lives and careers of those he mentored and inspired,” Lenox said.
