John G. Tawresey, P.E., M.ASCE
Technical Region Director Candidate

Vision Statement

If elected, I envision influencing the ASCE Board of Direction to maintain and enhance the independence of the Institutes to pursue new initiatives. I will also encourage the Institutes to conform to the rest of ASCE. There is a delicate balance between independence and conformance. It is a balance that is worth the effort. I anticipate spending time helping to maintain the balance. Better communication is often a solution.

If elected, I envision participating on the ASCE Finance Committee to help maintain ASCE's strong financial position. I currently serve on the Audit Committee.

If elected, I envision a contrary position on the role of the civil engineer in society. I believe a civil engineer can best help society by contributing opinions about technical issues to the public dialogue as opposed to politically advocating positions. We must be professional in everything we do, and often political persuasion and our code of ethics are in conflict. I am uncomfortable with raising money for political action committees. In the long run, these activities will damage our professional credibility. Being apolitical adds credibility in a partisan political world.

If elected, I will work to break down the barriers between civil engineering practitioners and civil engineering educators. We can start by raising the level of respect for each other and listening more carefully to concerns and issues. I believe it is not possible to be a professional engineer without extensive experience and mentoring by others in practice. But the relevant education is a necessary prerequisite. We are missing many opportunities by not having more interaction between the educators and practitioners.

If elected, I will support efforts to encourage more young people to enter our profession. In today's world, I believe that an undergraduate engineering degree is equivalent to the liberal arts degrees of the past. Parents and K-12 educators need to hear this message. As a school board member in my home community, I observe the enthusiasm of our young people about protecting the environment. But more often than not, they make no connection between their passion and civil engineering. Sometimes even worse, they see the civil engineer as the designer of environmental destruction. We need to enlighten the educators about our profession.

The above statement appears as it was submitted to ASCE by the nominee. No revisions have been made to the statement by ASCE.