Two Texas A&M University deans have been elected to the National Academy of Construction (NAC) for championing construction science education and enhancing the strength and well-being of the construction industry. Dr. M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of engineering, and Dr. Jorge Vanegas, dean of the College of Architecture, are among 38 new members of this elite group.
The NAC is one of the nation’s most esteemed professional construction industry institutions with 292 Academy members and tens of thousands of participants in all sectors of the industry.
Banks oversees coordination and collaboration among the engineering, academic and research programs at seven universities throughout The Texas A&M University System, as well as three state agencies: the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service and the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
Banks was previously the Bowen Engineering Head for the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University and the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor at Purdue. She received her B.S.E. from the University of Florida, M.S.E. from the University of North Carolina, and Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Duke University.
She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. She has received numerous awards including the ASCE Petersen Outstanding Woman of the Year Award, ASCE Rudolph Hering Medal, Purdue Faculty Scholar Award, Sloan Foundation Mentoring Fellowship, and the American Association of University Women Fellowship.
Vanegas, who has headed the College of Architecture since 2008, is also a research professor at TEES.
In his scholarly activities, Vanegas focuses on applying creativity, innovation, design and entrepreneurship in multidisciplinary environments, implementing built environment sustainability, and advancing asset delivery and management in architecture, engineering and construction through integrated strategies, tools and methods.
He has received national and international awards for his education, research and professional scholarly accomplishments, including being inducted into the Pan American Academy of Engineering in 2010.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia, and master's and doctoral degrees in construction engineering and management from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University.
Vanegas and Banks will be formally inducted at ceremonies in San Diego on Oct. 11, 2018.