Annual Report Year 2009 - Civil and Environmental Engineering

Vorster continued from page 12
This program was designed to
provide comprehensive mentoring
to Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise (DBE) firms
in the highway construction
industry. Vorster oversaw all
aspects of this program since
its inception, including the selection
of VDOT personnel to
work as mentors with the DBE
firms who participate in the
formal program.
“I started this program in
the belief that small minority
owned construction companies
would benefit greatly from
the services of a dedicated
and experienced mentor from
whom they can obtain advice
and guidance across the full
spectrum of personal, technical
and business challenges
that small companies face.
The program employs a full
time mentor who works under
my guidance to proactively
assist between six and eight
small minority owned construction
companies in southwest
Virginia.
The program has made an
undoubted contribution to the
Disadvantaged Business Enterprise
community in southwest
Virginia. Making that difference
is an essential part of
our service mission and of the
privilege of being a member of
our faculty,” Vorster said.
When Connie Sorrell was
the assistant commissioner
of administration, VDOT, she
wrote that “Mike has been
instrumental in assisting
(VDOT) in outreach efforts
to strengthen and develop
minority and women-owned
businesses in obtaining their
goals to become transportation
contractors. ...Mike brings
his integrity, trust, expertise
and good humor to his clients
14 | VIA REPORT | 2009
“We strive to be the model
Land Grant University of the
21st century. I have valued
the words, the spirit, and the
challenge of that statement.”
~ Michael C. Vorster
in this program and his
colleagues at VDOT
in a way that enriches
us all.”
Another trait Vorster
brings to his field is passion.
After he spoke as a guest
lecturer in Paul Torgersen’s
Theory of Organization class,
he received an email from one
of the seniors in attendance,
Ryan Arvin. In part, it read:
“Your presentation … was
the most inspiring lecture I’ve
been in, and one that I’ve
walked away remembering
just about everything. …Your
speech was inspiring and
made me realize I need to follow
my passion now.”
Among his numerous
awards, the National Academy
of Construction inducted
him as a member in 2000.
Members of this academy are
considered to “be industry
leaders whose present or past
professional career over a
period of years demonstrates
outstanding contributions to
the engineering and construction
industry.”
The American Society
of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
awarded Vorster its Faculty of
the Year Award in 2000 and
its Thomas Fitch Rowland
Prize for a Research Publication
in 1992. The latter is an
award given to recognize the
best scholarly publication in a
given year within the society’s
construction engineering and
management journal.
The Construction Industry
Institute, a leading organization
of its kind in the U.S.,
gave him its Outstanding Research
Award in 1995.
The State Council of Higher
Education of Virginia (SCHEV)
presented its 2003 Outstanding
Faculty Award to Vorster.
At Virginia Tech, he received
the Alumni Award for
Teaching Excellence in 2001,
Certificates of Teaching Excellence
from the College of Engineering
in 1993 and in 1999,
a Dean’s Award for Excellence
in Service in 1999, and the
Via Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering’s
2004 Alumni Teaching Excellence
Award. He is a member
of the Virginia Tech Academy
of Teaching Excellence.
At Virginia Tech, “we strive
to be the model Land Grant
University of the 21st century,”
Vorster said. “I have valued
the words, the spirit, and the
challenge of that statement.
A faculty position is a privilege
not enjoyed by many. I
accepted that the privilege
carries heavy responsibilities;
you work with the best young
minds in the Commonwealth
and beyond, you advance the
frontiers of knowledge, and
you truly seek to create a better
future. Your contributions
must lead to new peaks of
achievement for an exceptionally
talented generation that
faces more challenges than
ever before.”
Vorster’s commitment to
students throughout Virginia
was illustrated through his
involvement with the Commonwealth
Graduate Engineering
Program (CGEP).
CGEP is a graduate distance
learning televised program
offered throughout the Commonwealth
under the auspices
of SCHEV. Throughout his
career, Vorster taught several
CGEP courses that were
broadcast to sites in the Commonwealth,
again receiving
excellent student evaluation
scores for the quality of instruction
that he provided in
the challenging environment
of distance learning.
A second major accomplishment
in outreach/public
service was Vorster’s development
(in 1988) and continuous
annual leadership of the
Transportation Construction
Management Institute (TCMI),
a ten-day continuing education
program developed especially
for middle managers
in VDOT and member companies
of the Virginia Road
and Transportation Builders
Association.
Vorster served as the Associate
Dean for Research and
Graduate Studies in the College
of Engineering from 1993
until 1997.
While he was associate
dean, he still taught each semester,
played a significant
role in the development of the
Green Engineering program
in the college, as well as the
plans to open the College’s
Ware Lab, a space devoted
entirely to student design
team projects in engineering.
Vorster received his bachelor’s
degree in civil engineering
and his masters in business
administration in 1965
and in 1971, respectively from
the University of Cape Town.
He earned his doctorate in engineering
from the University
of Stellenbosch in 1980.