Jie Han, Ph.D., P.E., Dist.M.ASCE, a Roy A. Roberts Distinguished Professor in the department of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering at the University of Kansas, has been honored with inclusion by ASCE in its 2026 class of distinguished members. He was recognized for his leadership in geotechnical engineering and pioneering contributions to geosynthetics, ground improvement, and roadways, significantly advancing research education and engineering practice worldwide.
ASCE will honor Han and the 2026 distinguished members at the 2026 OPAL Gala, Thursday, Oct. 15 in Reston, Virginia.
Han is one of today’s most productive scholars and dynamic leaders in geotechnical engineering. His work is well-recognized as it relates to geosynthetic-reinforced earth structures and ground improvement that takes in geosynthetic-reinforced paved and unpaved roads, embankments, slopes, and walls. His research projects have been supported by major grants from programs and agencies, such as the Strategic Highway Research Program 2, National Science Foundation, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Federal Highway Administration, and state departments of transportation, to help provide better solutions to engineering problems related to transportation infrastructure.
His work has led to various design methods that provide sustainable, economic solutions to geotechnical engineering practice. Examples include his proposal of an analytical solution for the consolidation rate of stone column improved soft foundations and co-authoring publications with J. P. Giroud on the design of geosynthetic-reinforced unpaved roads, which are included in the U.S. FHWA Geosynthetics Reference Manual.
Han is the past president of the ASCE Geo-Institute from 2024 to 2025, treasurer of the International Geosynthetics Society, and current chair of the Geomaterial Properties and Behavior Committee of the Transportation Research Board under the U.S. National Academies. He also served as chair of the Geosynthetics Conference in 2021 and 2023 and has served as the specialty chief editor in geotechnical engineering for the Frontiers of Built Environment journal since 2021. He himself has published extensively and is the sole author of Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement, published by Wiley and adopted by many universities and consulting firms around the world.
Collaborations have included working with Dov Leschinsky on research publications about limit equilibrium design of mechanically stabilized earth walls, with James Collin and Mohammed Gabr on research publications about design of geosynthetic-reinforced column-supported embankments, and with Robert L. Parsons on research publications about load distribution on buried box culverts considering pavement effects. Han was one of the researchers who developed GeoTechTools, the geotechnology selection guidance and engineering tools currently managed by the ASCE Geo-Institute.
Han has received numerous awards, including the 2011 Shamsher Prakash Prize for Excellence in the Practice of Geotechnical Engineering, the 2014 IGS Award, the 2017 ASCE Martin S. Kapp Foundation Engineering Award, and the 2018 ASCE Kansas City Section Civil Engineer of the Year Award. He has delivered over 300 keynote lectures, invited lectures, and short courses in more than 20 countries. He was the 2021-2023 Geosynthetic Materials Association Robert M. Koerner Award Lecturer, the ASCE Region 10 Distinguished Lecturer in 2023, the 2024 Sun Jun Lecturer at GeoShanghai in China, and has been selected by the Canadian Geotechnical Society as the Cross Canada Tour Lecturer for spring 2026 and by IGS as the eighth Giroud Lecturer in Montreal, Canada, for fall 2026.
Nominations for the 2027 class are due Dec. 15. Email [email protected] for more information.
