PCI announces winners of the 2012 Educator Awards

CHICAGO — The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) selected John F. Stanton, Ph.D., professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington as the recipient of PCI’s 2012 Distinguished Educator Award. Sameh S. Badie, Ph.D., associate professor of civil engineering at the George Washington University was chosen as the 2012 PCI Young Educator Achievement Award recipient. These awards were presented on Oct. 2, during the 2012 PCI Convention and National Bridge Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

The Distinguished Educator Award was developed by PCI’s Student Education Committee and recognizes distinguished engineering, architecture, and/or construction technology educators who have made significant and sustained contributions to the precast/prestressed concrete industry. Dr. Stanton has been teaching precast/prestressed concrete coursework at the University of Washington for more than 20 years. His high ratings from his students prove his commitment to his role as an educator and mentor to the future concrete engineering workforce.

“His approach to teaching the precast/prestressed concrete class is a mixture of the intellectual and the practical. He hands out intensive class notes … and [also] takes the students on field trips,” says Dr. Neil M. Hawkins, Professor Emeritus from the University of Illinois and a supporter of Dr. Stanton’s nomination as PCI’s Distinguished Educator.

Dr. Stanton obtained his Bachelor of Arts in 1967 and his Master of Arts in 1970 from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He obtained his Master of Science in civil engineering in 1977 and his Ph.D. in 1979 from Cornell University. He then joined the faculty of the University of Washington in 1979, where he lists precast/prestressed concrete as one of his principal academic interest areas.

Dr. Stanton served on PCI’s Research and Development Committee for two decades and also served on the PCI Design Handbook Blue Ribbon Review Committee for the publication’s sixth edition. He worked tirelessly on the PRESSS large-scale building design, motivating his own students to participate fully in the research process and also motivating students from other universities as well. For his commitment to precast/prestressed concrete coursework, the students he teaches during those classes, and PCI’s research and development projects, PCI proudly bestows upon Dr. John F. Stanton the 2012 Distinguished Professor Award.

The Young Educator Achievement Award recognizes engineering, architecture, and/or construction technology educators who have made significant contributions to the precast/prestressed concrete industry in their early careers in academia. Dr. Sameh S. Badie, a graduate of the University of Nebraska, began his academic career at the George Washington University in 2001 where he is currently serving as an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Dr. Badie’s commitment to precast/prestressed concrete industry is well documented by his participation on various PCI bridge committees, and authorship or co-authorship of various PCI publications (including the PCI State-of-the-Art Report on Full-Depth Precast Concrete Bridge Deck Panels). Dr. Badie is also co-author of several papers published in the PCI Journal, a testament to his commitment to precast/prestressed-related research. However, it is Dr. Badie’s accomplishments as an educator in the classroom that earned him the distinction of becoming PCI’s Young Educator for 2012.

When Dr. Badie joined the George Washington University in 2001, it had one undergraduate course in reinforced concrete. Today the graduate and undergraduate curricula at the university have five courses in reinforced and prestressed concrete that are taught by Dr. Badie. Consequently, Dr. Badie received the Professor of the Year award for the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the George Washington University for the 2008-2009 academic year, and again for the 2009-2010 academic year.

It is no wonder Dr. Badie earned that distinction at the George Washington University twice, as his nomination for PCI’s Young Educator Award was supported by many of his current and previous students who speak of the “powerful and inspirational lectures Professor Badie delivers.” Students praise Badie for personally motivating and encouraging them, saying “In the classroom, he is clear and responsive” and “He is a very knowledgeable instructor … and spends time with his students even beyond the school curriculum.”