Civil engineer gains top honor of national professional society

Contact: Bob Ratliff

Dennis D. Truax of Mississippi State University is being elevated to the rank of Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The fellow designation is one of the highest professional recognitions civil engineers can receive from their peers, second only to the designation of honorary member.

A Hearin-Hess Professor in the College of Engineering, Truax has been a member of the MSU faculty since 1980. In addition to teaching and research duties, he serves as associate editor of the Journal of Profession Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, a joint publication of the ASCE and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

In bestowing the rank of fellow on Truax and other 1999 honorees, ASCE President Dan S. Turner said "the work of these members realizes a major civil engineering goal: to serve as guardians of the public good."

Founded in 1852, America's oldest national engineering society today includes more than 120,000 engineers worldwide.

Truax holds master's and doctoral degrees from MSU. He received a bachelor's at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.