Professor Ben Schafer Appointed JHU Civil Engineering Chair
Dear Colleagues,
It is my pleasure to announce that effective July 1, 2009, Ben Schafer has been appointed chair of the Department of Civil Engineering.
Since Ben joined the Whiting School faculty in 2000, his research in the fields of structural stability and computational mechanics has garnered him wide recognition, including an NSF CAREER award in 2005 and a Faculty Fellowship from the American Institute of Steel Construction in 2006. At the School of Engineering, Ben was named the inaugural Swirnow Faculty Scholar last year and is a past recipient of the Robert S. Pond, Sr. Excellence in Teaching Award.
I also want to recognize the many contributions departing chair, Hugh Ellis, has made to WSE since his arrival at Johns Hopkins in 1984. At that time, Hugh joined the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering and was subsequently awarded a joint appointment in civil engineering. Over the years, he has collaborated with faculty from both departments, chairing DoGEE from 1995 – 2000 and civil engineering since 2004. He will continue to be actively involved in teaching and his research in environmental systems analysis.
Please join me in congratulating Ben and thanking Hugh.
Best wishes,
Nicholas P. Jones
Damaged flood walls in New Orleans, LA after Hurricane Katrina. Professor Dalrymple was part of the first official team of engineers to examine the breaches around the city, looking for the failure mechanisms.
Katherine Acton MSE ‘08
“I realized that I wouldn’t be satisfied unless I could get into something where [my math degree] could be physically applied.”
Katherine Acton took an unusual route to obtaining her MSE in Civil Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University. As an undergraduate, she majored in English (her honors thesis was in creative writing) and also mathematics.