Dr. John Niedzwecki, Cain ’13 Chair and Regent’s Professor in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University, was recently honored with the 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award from the school of engineering at his alma mater, the Catholic University of America.
The award recognizes outstanding alumni and their achievements and contributions to the field of engineering. Niedzwecki’s leadership while head of the Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M played a key role in his recognition. He is the first former student in the higher education field to receive the award. Niedzwecki has been a faculty member at Texas A&M for more than 30 years. He was instrumental in spearheading the launch of a National Science Foundation Offshore Technology Research Center for the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and The Texas A&M University System.
Niedzwecki specializes in offshore civil engineering, with interests in deep-water offshore and coastal structures, multi-body marine hydrodynamics, statistical analyses of model basin and oceanographic field data, and most recently, the effects of lightning strikes on offshore structures.
“Catholic University has a special place in my heart,” said Niedzwecki. “There was this dialogue between the students and the faculty and I think it was all about trying to find out on an individual level what excited us. That made a big mark on me in my career and how I interact with students.”
Contributing author: Ryan Terry