Awards

Robert J. Dexter Memorial Lecture Award

The Robert J. Dexter Memorial Lecture provides an opportunity for an individual early in his/her career in structural engineering to present a lecture on his/her steel bridge activities to the Steel Bridge Task Force and to participate in its semiannual three-day meeting. The Steel Bridge Task Force is made up of leading steel bridge experts.

The program was instituted in 2005 to honor Robert J. Dexter, associate professor of civil engineering at the University of Minnesota. An internationally recognized expert on steel fracture and fatigue problems, Professor Dexter passed away on November 16, 2004.

Ryan Sherman, Ph.D., P.E., Assistant Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (second from left), with students.

Recipients:

• Ryan Sherman, Ph.D., P.E., Georgia Institute of Technology (2023)
• William Collins, Ph.D., P.E., University of Kansas in Lawrence (2022)
• Matthew Yarnold, Ph.D., P.E., Texas A&M University (2021)
• Matthew H. Hebdon, Ph.D., P.E., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2019)
• Hussam Mahmoud, Ph.D., Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado (2014)
• Caroline R. Bennett, Ph.D., P.E., University of Kansas in Lawrence (2013)
• Hassan H. Abbas, Ph.D., Auburn University (2012)
• Justin Ocel, Ph.D., P.E., Federal Highway Administration (2010)
• Emmett A. Sumner III, Ph.D., North Carolina State University in Raleigh (2009)
• Jennifer Righman McConnell, Ph.D., University of Delaware (2007)
• Reagan Herman, Ph.D., University of Houston (2006)
• Dr. Robert Connor, Purdue University (2005)

Richard S. Fountain Award

The Richard S. Fountain Award is presented annually by the Steel Bridge Task Force, the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA) and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Steel and Metals Technical Committee to recognize leadership in steel bridge research and outstanding efforts to advance AASHTO specifications. The award was instituted in 2001 to honor Richard S. Fountain, founder of the Steel Bridge Task Force. Richard Fountain passed away on March 14, 2011.

Justin Ocel with Steel Bridge Task Force members (L-R): David Stoddard, senior steel applications engineer of SSAB Americas; Chris Garrell, chief bridge engineer of National Steel Bridge Alliance; Rob Connor, professor of engineering at Purdue University; Justin Ocel, senior structural engineer at the Federal Highway Administration’s Resource Center; Karl Frank, consultant; Mike Grubb, director of quality assurance & quality control of Grubb and Associates; Ed Wasserman, senior engineer of Modjeski and Masters; and Dan Snyder, vp of the construction program at AISI.

Recipients: 

• Justin Ocel, Ph.D., P.E., Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Resource Center (2024)
• Heather Gilmer, P.E., Senior Engineer, Pennoni (2023)
• Todd Helwig, Ph.D., Director of the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory and Professor of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (2022)
• Robert J. Connor, Jack and Kay Hockema Professor in Civil Engineering at Purdue University (2020)
• Ed Wasserman, Senior Engineer of Bridge Design and Engineering, Modjeski and Masters (2019)
• Alexander D. Wilson, Manager of Customer Technical Services for ArcelorMittal, USA, Retired (2014)
• Ronald D. Medlock, P.E., High Steel Structures, Inc., Lancaster, PA (2013)
• Yoni Adonyi, Ph.D., P.E., professor, Omer Blodgett Chair of Welding and Materials Joining Engineering and MJE Program Coordinator at LeTourneau University (2012)
• Ahmad M. Itani, Ph.D., P.E., S.E., F. ASCE, University of Nevada, Reno (2011)
• John M. Kulicki, P.E., Modjeski and Masters, Inc. (2009)
• William J. Wright, Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (2008)
• Donald W. White, Professor of Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials at the Georgia Institute of Technology (2007)
• Dean C. Krouse, Independent Consulting Metallurgical Engineer (2006)
• Dennis R. Mertz, Associate Professor, University of Delaware (2005)
• Camille Rubeiz, former Director of Transportation and Infrastructure at AISI (2003)
• Professor Karl Frank, University of Texas at Austin (2002); and
• Mike Grubb, P.E., BSDI Ltd. (2001)

CERF Award

A team consisting of members from AISI, the U.S. Navy’s Carderock Division, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) were awarded the 1997 Civil Engineering Research Foundation (CERF) Charles Pankow Award for Innovation for the development of high-performance steel for bridges. The award was presented on October 21, 1997 at the CERF annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The Pankow Award for Innovation was established in 1996 to complement existing industry awards. Named for industry visionary Charles J. Pankow, the award recognizes organizations working collaboratively to bring innovative civil engineering ideas into practice. As a leader in the civil engineering industry for nearly 50 years, Pankow was instrumental in launching CERF, and he served as one of the Foundation’s first board members and chairman of CERF’s New Century Partnership.

SMDI Lifetime Achievement Award

Alexander D. Wilson, ArcelorMittal (retired), was named as a Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI) Lifetime Achievement Award winner in May 2016. SMDI is a former business unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Alex was instrumental in the development and testing of new technologies for the bridge industry, including weathering steel and High-Performance Steel. He made many significant contributions to the steel bridge industry.