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A message from ASCE Texas Section President Patrick M. Beecher PE

A message from ASCE Texas Section President Patrick M. Beecher PE

August 2022

Thank you! Thank you for the opportunity to serve you and the ASCE Texas Section as your President over this past year. The ASCE Texas Section is blessed to have a strong active Board of Direction and Section office to serve its members and support the wider civil engineering community.  

The ASCE Texas Section is fortunate to have Jenni Peters, CAE, Mike Sosa, and Stephanie Ludlow in the Section office. They are constantly working behind the scenes to keep operations running smooth and supporting the numerous volunteers, committees, and events that go on throughout the year. There is no other ASCE Section with staff that is as friendly and helpful as Jenni, Mike, and Stephanie.  

Thank you to Patricia Frayre PE, our VP Professional, for leading our active Government Affairs Committee and Infrastructure Resilience Network Task Committee (Beyond Storms). They have been advocating to State of Texas agencies and legislative committees on our behalf to share the importance of infrastructure in protecting and enhancing the lives of Texans everywhere. I am also thankful for Patricia’s willingness to lead our Nominating Process Review Task Committee to help update the way in which we nominate candidates for ASCE Texas Section officer positions and make it a more transparent process.  

I am appreciative of Ron Reichert, our VP Technical, for experimenting with not only the type of content but also the delivery of our technical webinars to provide greater benefit in being a member of ASCE. The results have been fantastic. In addition, Ron has been a tireless advocate for our student members through his efforts in encouraging more students to participate in Branch meetings.  By attending Branch meetings, students begin to develop relationships with our professional members which can lead to job opportunities and an easier transition to Associate Member upon graduation.  

Thank you to Clay Forister PE, CFM, our VP Education, for supporting a very successful Region 6 Student Symposium which brought together ASCE Student Chapters from Oklahoma, Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas for fellowship and friendly competition. This event was impressive not only for the significant number of students attending, but also the first Student Symposium to be back in-person after being virtual in 2021.  

Chris Nance PE, ENV SP, our Treasurer, has kept us well-informed of our financial position over his 2-year term and coordinated our financial audit to ensure that the ASCE Texas Section is continuing to be a good steward of the financial support we receive from our members. In our many deliberations over potential dues increase, I am thankful to Chris for the effort he put into researching past dues increase as well as how they affected membership and our finances.  

Thank you to Yan Linwood PE, our Senior Director-at-Large, for leading our Editorial Committee and delivering engaging and relevant content throughout the past year for our Texas Civil Engineering (TCE) online magazine.  

Coming off a well-executed Leadership Development Weekend, Travis Attanasio PE, CFM, our President-Elect, is poised to have a successful year as President when he assumes this role at our upcoming CECON (September 14 – 16, 2022 in Frisco, Texas).  He brought together ASCE leaders from across Texas to gather in Fort Worth for some impactful leadership development and networking. I am excited to see Travis in action as your next President.  

I am always amazed at the energy and passion Sean Merrell PE, PTOE, RAS, F.ASCE, our current Past-President and ASCE Region 6 Governor and soon-to-be Region 6 Director, has for ASCE. In addition to helping the ASCE Texas Section secure another Outstanding Section & Branch Award in the Very Large Sections and Branches category, he has kept the ASCE Texas Section informed of what is happening at the Society level and is always looking for ways to improve how ASCE can support its members. We all wish Sean well as he takes on the Region 6 Director position and represents us on the ASCE Society Board of Direction.  

Thank you for the opportunity to serve with these remarkable individuals and all of the volunteers that make up the ASCE Texas Section to bring value to your membership and support the civil engineering community!  

Patrick M. Beecher PE, M.ASCE 

ASCE Texas Section President 2021-2022