A LEADER COMES HOME Alum Takes Helm at School <strong>of</strong> Civil & Construction <strong>Engineering</strong> 26
As the newly-recruited director <strong>of</strong> OSU’s School <strong>of</strong> Civil and Construction <strong>Engineering</strong>, Scott Ashford brings to <strong>Oregon</strong> <strong>State</strong> more than a decade <strong>of</strong> leadership experience at one <strong>of</strong> the nation’s top engineering programs. He also brings years <strong>of</strong> industry experience at firms like CH2M HILL, research grants totaling close to $1 million, an innovative and mobile Structures Testing Lab, and big plans to build a Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction lab on campus where the relationship between buildings, foundations, and soils can be studied. New leadership. New research. New ideas. But OSU is not new to Ashford. A 1983 OSU civil engineering grad, Ashford earned master’s and doctoral degrees in geotechnical engineering from UC Berkeley before becoming a pr<strong>of</strong>essor at UC San Diego, where he helped the Jacobs School <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> climb the national rankings from No. 43 to No. 11. “During that process, I learned a lot, and I plan to take that knowledge and apply it here at <strong>Oregon</strong> <strong>State</strong>,” says Ashford, who has taught and conducted research around the world – from design work on California highways to seismic hazards in Thailand and landslide mitigation in Sri Lanka. One <strong>of</strong> Ashford’s main goals at OSU is growing the graduate programs in civil engineering and construction engineering management. “Students today need to know that a master’s degree helps lead to a successful career,” he says. “I believe every single one <strong>of</strong> our students should consider staying on to get a master’s degree before entering the job market. We have an outstanding undergraduate program, so my focus is growing our graduate program while maintaining the high quality <strong>of</strong> our undergraduate program.” Tapping his industry experience, Ashford also plans to grow research funding and develop new engineers who are work-ready at graduation. “I have a good sense <strong>of</strong> what industry wants in terms <strong>of</strong> research and graduates because I’ve been there,” he says. “If you look around at the multidisciplinary research underway here at <strong>Oregon</strong> <strong>State</strong>, we have an outstanding group <strong>of</strong> faculty, not just in this School, but throughout the <strong>College</strong> and across campus. We’re a real asset to industry.” Ashford, who joins a strong leadership team that is guiding the <strong>College</strong> through an unprecedented transformation, also plans to expand the new Master’s <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> (MEng) degree. “I want our students as well as working engineers in the field to know they can come to OSU for one year and get a master’s degree.” Ashford will serve as director <strong>of</strong> the Kiewit Center for Infrastructure and Transportation Research Cluster. Both Ashford and his wife, Meleah, a water resources engineer and an OSU engineering alumna, are pleased to be back in <strong>Oregon</strong>. “We both feel we had an outstanding education at <strong>Oregon</strong> <strong>State</strong>,” Ashford says. “The education we received here really set us up for success. Now I have the opportunity to give back, to raise the prominence <strong>of</strong> the school.” OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY <strong>College</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> <strong>2007</strong> Annual Report 27