Gerardo Flintsch named Dan Pletta Professor
Gerardo Flintsch, professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been named the Dan Pletta Professor by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The Dan Pletta Professorship is named for the former department head and professor of engineering science and mechanics who served the university from 1932 to 1972. It was established in 1987 from a gift by alumnus Bruce Vorhauer who received his bachelor’s degree in engineering mechanics in 1964 and died in 1992. The recipient holds the professorship for a five-year term and is renewable.
A member of the Virginia Tech faculty since 1997, Flintsch is internationally recognized for his contributions to the field of pavement engineering and asset management. He is author or co-author of 286 peer-reviewed papers and five books and book chapters, and his publications have been cited in more than 3,700 research articles.
Flintsch established the Center for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and has served as director since 2005. He has directed or co-directed more than $40 million in external research funding at Virginia Tech through numerous multidisciplinary research and development projects. He ranks among the top 1 percent of Virginia Tech faculty in research expenditures as principal investigator.
He is the recipient of the prestigious American Society for Testing and Materials H.W. Kummer Lecture Award for his contributions to the advancement of vehicle-pavement systems.
In the classroom, Flintsch has emphasized sustainability themes across the curriculum and incorporated active learning exercises using state-of-the-art software and real-world case studies. He has supervised 28 Ph.D. students and 51 master’s degree students at Virginia Tech and partnering institutions and has participated in collaborative educational activities with 11 universities around the world.
Flintsch received his bachelor’s degree from the Universidad Mayor in Montevideo, Uruguay, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Arizona State University.
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