Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty members Kostas Konstantinidis, Lauren Stewart and Iris Tien have been selected for three new endowed professorships, effective July 1.
 Konstantinidis |
 Stewart |
 Tien |
Konstantinidis has been appointed the Richard C. Tucker Professor. Stewart and Tien have been appointed as Williams Family Early-Career Professors.
Endowed professorships recognize faculty who stretch the boundaries of their disciplines. In addition to prestige, professorships provide faculty members with discretionary funding for research, equipment, travel and other professional development to advance their work. In the past year, CEE has doubled its number of endowed professorships and faculty chairs, thanks to generous gifts from alumni and friends of the School.
Professor Konstantinidis has been at Georgia Tech since 2007. His research focuses on the genetic and metabolic diversity of bacteria and archaea, and the role this diversity plays in the environment. He is also interested in biotechnological applications of microbial diversity in the bioremediation of environmental pollutants and the assessment of water quality. He earned his doctorate at Michigan State University. Konstantinidis also holds courtesy appointments in Georgia Tech’s schools of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering.
Stewart joined the faculty in 2013 and was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in 2019. Her research focuses on the extreme loading of structures extending to blast, shock, seismic and other hazard applications. She is known for her innovative experimental techniques and for developing unique experimental facilities. Stewart was named among the 2019 Top 100 Influential Women in Engineering by Engineering Georgia. She earned her doctorate from the University of California, San Diego.
Tien came to Tech in 2014 after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She was recently promoted to associate professor and granted tenure. Tien’s research expertise is in risk and reliability of civil infrastructure systems. Her major contributions are in the areas of complex systems modeling of critical infrastructure, structural risk and reliability, and big data analytics for real-time system assessment. In 2018, the city of Atlanta picked Tien to co-lead a working group for the city’s efforts to address transportation systems and related risks to infrastructure.
About the Williams Family: The Williams family has deep connections to Georgia Tech and the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Frank Williams Jr., CE 56, Frank Williams III, CE 81, and Art Williams, CE 83, are all alumni and many of their spouses and children have also graduated from Georgia Tech. They have generously supported student scholarships and other programs on campus individually and through their company. Frank Williams Jr. was inducted into the College of Engineering’s Engineering Hall of Fame in 2012.
About Richard C. Tucker: Tucker, CE 64, has been involved with the School as an alumnus for over 30 years. He has served as chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering External Advisory Board and also chaired the College of Engineering External Advisory Board. He is a recipient of the College of Engineering’s Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award as well as an inductee into the College of Engineering Hall of Fame in 2003. He was instrumental in establishing the CEE Advisory Board Endowment in support of the School.