Several members of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers had an opportunity to meet Reginald. DesRoches, Ph.D. and welcome him as the newly 
appointed Chair in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), College of Engineering, at the Georgia Institute of Technology, effective May 15, 2012. Prior to his appointment as Chair, he was Dean’s Professor and Associate Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech. DesRoches earned his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. His primary research interests are design of buildings and critical infrastructure subjected to extreme loads, seismic risk assessment of transportation systems, and application of smart materials in seismic-resistant design and retrofit.
In response to the opportunity to become the Chair of CEE, Dr. DesRoches stated that “I am honored to be chosen as the next school chair, and I look forward to working with an outstanding group of students, faculty, staff and alumni. This is an exciting time for the civil & environmental engineering profession, and I believe that our program is well positioned to lead in educating and empowering our students to solve future global challenges.”
As they came away from their meeting with Dr. DesRoches, the members of the Georgia Section that met with him were very impressed and look forward to the continuing success of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering under his leadership. Members can look forward to the prospect of working cooperatively with Dr. DesRoches and CEE to advance the vision and goals of both CEE and ASCE.
Members of the Board of Directors, Georgia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers
Rebecca Shelton, P.E. has a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Central Florida (1996) and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology (2002). She has over 15 years of progressively responsible experience as a civil engineer and has been a Professional Engineer in the State of Georgia since 2003. She is currently Operations Technical Services Manager for the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources where she oversees the support, improvement and optimization of the maintenance of the County’s water and sewer assets. Mrs. Shelton is an active member of ASCE, currently serving as Treasurer and ASCE representative for the Editorial Board of the Georgia Engineer magazine. She is an active member of the Georgia Association of Water Professionals and Past President of the Georgia Section of the American Water Resources Association.
James Reid Emery, Jr., P.E. is the County Engineer for Troup County, Georgia and Director of the Roads, Engineering, and Sanitation Departments. He lives in LaGrange, Georgia with his wife of 18 years Jennifer and their three children Reid (16), Catherine (14), and Jessica (12). After earning his Eagle Scout award and finishing high school in Waynesboro, Georgia, he went on to graduate from Georgia Tech in Civil Engineering and is a Georgia registered Professional Engineer (P.E.). He began his engineering career in general civil consulting and then transitioned into local government as City Engineer for Newnan, Georgia prior to beginning his current seven-plus years with Troup County. His belief that “infrastructure is the ‘cathedral’ of modern civilization” – Klotz inspires his deeply determined internal motivation to serve the public. He is very involved with his family and his church and enjoys, auto mechanics, home improvement projects, snow skiing, and all types of water sports. He currently serves as the Chairman of the West Point Lake Advisory Council for the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce, Governing Board Member of the ACF Stakeholders, Board of Directors of the Middle Chattahoochee Water Coalition, Past President of the South Metro Branch of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Technical Advisory Committee of the Georgia Regional Transportation Roundtable.
James R. Wallace, Sc.D., P.E. serves as president, ASCE Georgia Section and President, Georgia Engineering Foundation. James earned a BSCE from Georgia Tech in 1961, a MSCE from Georgia Tech in 1963, and a Sc.D. from MIT in 1966.
Ernie Pollitzer, P.E. holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Purdue and an MS in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech. His professional career includes 22 years of environmental consulting on the investigation and remediation of hazardous waste sites.