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On November 17, 2010, the Construction Engineering & Project Management faculty in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Kentucky held the inaugural Donn E. Hancher Lecture.  The lecture was established to honor Dr. Hancher who retired from UK in 2008 after 17 years of service.  Hancher had been the Terrell-McDowell Chair of Construction Engineering & Project Management, chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, and Associate Dean of the College of Engineering.   The lecture, to be given annually by an outstanding civil engineer selected by the Construction Engineering & Project Management faculty, recognizes Hancher’s contributions to civil engineering and construction engineering and project management.

Dennis C. Russell, General Manager of the Marine Division of Goettle Engineering and Construction in Cincinnati, presented the lecture on the company’s project that is part of the expansion of the Panama Canal.  Russell, a 1974 graduate in civil engineering from the University of Delaware, has more than 35 years experience in marine construction on the East coast, the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and Alaska.  Goettle is one of the nation’s largest geotechnical engineering and construction firms and is led by Douglas J. Keller, President and CEO, a 1984 UK civil engineering graduate, and Project Manager David G. Keller, a 1989 UK civil engineering graduate.

Taylor’s paper, “Science, Engineering, and Technology in the Policy Process for Natural Systems,” proposes a theoretical model to analyze how risk awareness, scientific knowledge, public policy and technological development interact with one another in the face of environmental problems. He then analyzes this model by comparing its theoretical predictions to the ongoing problem of CFC ozone depletion.

The Dana Meadows Award recognizes the best research paper submitted to the conference by a student, and carries with it a cash prize of $1,200. Taylor wrote the paper while a Ph.D. student in the construction engineering and management program of the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University. He previously earned his BSCE and MSCE degrees from the University of Kentucky.

“Although this particular paper focused on an environmental issue, the work is closely related to my research on nuclear power and public policy,” Taylor said. “It was a great honor to receive the award because the selection committee was composed of several leading experts in system dynamics modeling. To be selected from a field of 29 excellent researchers was truly humbling. In addition, Dana Meadow’s work has had a profound influence on my own research.”

The prize committee called Taylor’s model “ambitious” and noted that “the strength of the model is the very broad boundary, encompassing biogeochemical, social, and technical factors.”

Award recipients were:

Construction Management Founders Society Lifetime Achievement Award

Billy Harper (’66)
David R. Houchin (’70)

Young Construction Engineer of the Year Award

Chad P. Conley (’01)

Young Civil Engineer of the Year Award

Clint R. Goodin (’95, ’96)

Civil Engineering Career Achievement Awards

Charles R. (Ron) Lovan (’69, ’71)
Ben T. Quinn (’66)
John W. Scott (’61)

Peggy Layne, is the guest speaker at the 2002 Society of Women Engineers Spring Banquet. The event will be held on Monday, April 15 at 7:00 pm at the Hillary J. Boone Faculty Center. Cost of the banquet for members is $11.00 and for guests $16.00.

Margaret E. (Peggy) Layne, P.E., accepted a two-year fellowship position as director of the program on diversity in the engineering workforce at the National Academy of Engineering in November 2000. Ms. Layne previously spent a year as an AAAS Science and Technology Fellow in the office of Senator Bob Graham (D-FL), where she was responsible for water, wastewater, and solid and hazardous waste policy issues. She has 17 years of consulting experience, and was formerly a principal at Harding Lawson Associates in Tallahassee, FL, where she managed the office and directed hazardous waste site investigation and cleanup projects. Ms. Layne has degrees in environmental engineering from Vanderbilt University and the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. She served as president of the Society of Women Engineers in 1996-97, and is currently a member of ASCE’s Committee on Diversity and Women in Civil Engineering. She is a registered professional engineer in three states.