Recognition from leaders in the construction industry is particularly gratifying. I am delighted to share the news that, on Oct. 28, I was inducted into the National Academy of Construction, a group of industry leaders recognized for outstanding achievements in and contributions to engineering and construction.
The academy provides a body of industry experts who can be and have been asked to serve on governmental committees and work on investigations and reports. It also sponsors a program called the National Construction Forum, which works to identify major industrywide issues and integrate the efforts of industry groups who are working on them.
The high point of the event for this editor was being inducted with NAC’s Class of 2010. I was truly honored to be in the company of Stuart Anderson, professor of design and construction integration at Texas A&M; J. Richard Capka, COO of Dawson & Associates and former administrator of the Federal Highway Administration; Wayne Crew, director of the Construction Industry Institute; John Dalton, executive vice president of Mustang Engineering; Jesus De La Garza, professor of construction engineering at Virginia Tech; Walker Lee Evey, president of the Design-Build Institute of America and former leader of the Pentagon renovation program; Thomas Gilbane, CEO of Gilbane Inc.; Ralph Larison, senior vice president of Herzog Contracting Corp., and Frank Lombardi, retiring chief engineer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The Construction Writers Association at its award ceremony in Chicago on Oct. 27 gave ENR staffers two awards for online work. At the ceremonies, ENR.com won CWA’s Website Electronic Communication Award for best website, and ENR Midwest Bureau Chief Tudor Van Hampton received the award, for best blog.