WEST POINT, N.Y. – Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering Department Head, Col. Steve Ressler, was named the American Society of Civil Engineers Outstanding Projects and Leaders award in the Education category for 2011 on July 23.

Ressler was honored for his 31-year Army engineering career and specifically for developing and leading, among other things, the ASCE Excellence in Civil Engineering Education Teaching Workshop for the past dozen years and service as Director of the West Point Bridge Design Contest.

“Steve is a huge contributor to both ASCE and ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology),” said Presidential nominee for the Dean of the Academic Board Col. Tim Trainor, “the accreditation organization for our engineering programs.”

Established in 1999, OPAL, ASCE’s highest award, recognizes and honors outstanding civil engineering leaders whose lifetime accomplishments and achievements have made significant differences in one of five categories: Construction, Design, Education, Government and Management.

ASCE is the leading professional society for the civil engineering discipline.

The winners will receive their honors at a special awards ceremony during the annual OPAL Gala next spring in Washington, D.C.

About West Point
Ranked the “Top College in the Country” by Forbes and “Top Public Liberal Arts College” by US News & World Report, the U.S. Military Academy is a four-year co-educational federal undergraduate liberal arts college located 50 miles north of New York City.  The world's preeminent leader development institution, it was founded in 1802 as America's first college of engineering.  Its mission remains constant—to educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character committed to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army.  For more information, go to www.westpoint.edu.