CEE Professors Baecher and Ayyub Receive the Army Commander’s Award

Professors Gregory B. Baecher and Bilal M. Ayyub of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Maryland have each been awarded the Army Commander’s Award for Public Service by LG Robert L. Van Antwerp, Chief of Engineers, US Army Corps of Engineers, to recognize service and achievements that contribute significantly to the accomplishment of the mis-sion of USACE by their contributions to the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task-force (IPET).

The IPET was established by the Chief of Engineers in Oct. 2005, with the objective of understanding the behavior of the New Orleans Hurricane Protection System in response to Hurricane Katrina and of assisting in applying that knowledge to the reconstitution of a more resilient and capable system. Both Professors Baecher and Ayyub served as mem-bers of the IPET Risk Analysis Team. Further information on the findings of the Risk Analysis Team is posted to the New Orleans District USACE web site.

The Commander’s Award for Public Service is the fourth highest honor the United States Department of the Army can bestow upon a civilian.

Published January 10, 2008