Three UGA engineering professors named Fellows of the American Society of Civil Engineers

ASCE Fellow LogoThree members of the University of Georgia College of Engineering’s faculty have been elected Fellows by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The UGA College of Engineering’s honorees are: Brian Bledsoe, the UGA Athletic Association Professor in Resilient Infrastructure; Sung-Hee “Sonny” Kim, an associate professor; and Sidney Thompson, the U.H. Davenport Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering.

The distinction of ASCE Fellow acknowledges significant contributions to the civil engineering profession and to a career of service to the public. The honor is held by fewer than three percent of ASCE’s 150,000 members worldwide.

“The recognition of professors Bledsoe, Kim and Thompson by ASCE is well-deserved and speaks to the quality and commitment of our faculty,” said Donald J. Leo, dean of the UGA College of Engineering. “All three have distinguished themselves through their instruction, their research and their dedication to the engineering profession.”

Bledsoe’s research focuses on the interface of hydrology, ecology and urban water sustainability with an emphasis on the sustainability and resiliency of green infrastructure including streams, floodplains and stormwater systems. He leads the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS), a new interdisciplinary research initiative at UGA that works to help communities and businesses rethink, transform and adapt their infrastructure in a time of rapid environmental and social change.

As the leader of the Geotechnical and Pavement Materials Lab at UGA, Kim conducts research in the fields of pavement materials and transportation geotechnics. Kim has been an integral contributor to several major highway and airport pavement improvement projects including those at Washington Dulles International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Detroit International Airport and Louisville International Airport. Kim has excelled in the practice of pavement engineering, led and contributed to the creation of two of the newest civil engineering programs in the U.S., and pursued research to directly advance the art of sustainable pavement design and maintenance.

Thompson serves as the inaugural chair of the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering. A member of the UGA faculty since 1980, he has received numerous awards during his career at UGA, including the D.W. Brooks Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. The Georgia Engineering Alliance named Thompson the Engineer of the Year in Education in 2004 and the Georgia Student Branch of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers named him Teacher of the Year on five separate occasions.

Founded in 1852, ASCE is the nation’s oldest engineering society. The organization represents members of the civil engineering profession in 177 countries.

Writer: Mike Wooten


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