TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The American Society of Civil Engineers recently honored Dr. G. Edward Gibson Jr., a University of Alabama professor, with election to the grade of fellow. Fewer than 6 percent of ASCE members achieve fellow grade.

Gibson, the Garry Neil Drummond Chair in civil, construction and environmental engineering, has been a member of ASCE since 1990. He was recognized because of his outstanding leadership and his demonstration for engineering work of major importance.

Gibson came to UA in 2006 as the director of the newly established construction engineering and management program. Most recently, Gibson served as the W.R. Woolrich Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.

Active in many professional organizations, Gibson was recently elected as president of the Architectural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Gibson will begin serving a one-year term as president beginning in October.

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 139,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering has about 1,800 students and more than 95 faculty. It has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.