CECON 2019 Keynotes Announced

Announcing CECON 2019 Keynote Speakers: ASCE President Robin Kemper PE, LEED AP, F.SEI, F.ASCE andRobert J. Darling, Lt. Col. USMC (Ret.)

ASCE Texas Section is excited to announce the first two keynote speakers for our 2019 Texas Civil Engineering Conference (CECON), taking place September 18-20, 2019. ASCE President Robin Kemper PE, LEED AP, F.SEI, F.ASCE will kick things off with her “Embracing Change” presentation at the CECON Opening Ceremony on Wednesday, September 18, 2019. Robert J. Darling, Lt. Col. USMC (Ret.), will present the Wednesday Luncheon keynote titled, “24 Hours in the President’s Bunker: Crisis, Leadership, & Decision Making on 9/11/2001.”

Learn more about our speakers and their presentations below:

The world changes every day. Society is constantly changing. If organizations fail to keep up with change, they fall behind, lose their competitive edge and fail to meet the needs of their customers. They will, eventually, fail. Great leaders and organizations understand this, which is why they continually look for ways to evolve and improve. Come here ASCE President Robin Kemper discuss why change is so important, why it is difficult, and learn methods to lead change.

In October 2007, Lieutenant Colonel Darling retired from the United States Marine Corps with just over twenty years of active duty service.  He flew attack helicopters in Desert Shield and Desert Storm during the first Gulf War and in Somalia, Africa, in support of Operation Restore Hope. In June 1998, he was selected to fly as a presidential pilot with Marine Helicopter Squadron One and in October 2000, he was handpicked to work for the White House Military Office, Airlift Operations Department.  It was in that capacity that Lt. Col. Darling supported the President, Vice President and National Security Advisor in the President’s Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) on September 11, 2001.

As a public speaker on Crisis Leadership and Decision Making, Bob has addressed numerous academic, government, and military organizations to include Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and as a guest lecturer on Crisis Leadership at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Bob is the author of “24 Hours Inside the President’s Bunker, 9/11/01: The White House, and the President and CEO of Turning Point Crisis Management-USA. He lives in Stafford, Virginia with his wife and two sons.