3/1/02
AUBURN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR RECEIVES NATIONAL TEACHING AWARD
AUBURN -- The U.S. University Council on Geotechnical Engineering Research has awarded its inaugural Distinguished Educator Award to David J. Elton of the Civil Engineering Department in Auburn University's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering.
Elton, an associate professor, received the national council's first award of its type in February at the Geo-Institutešs International Deep Foundations Congress in Orlando, Fla. The Geo-Institute is a branch of the American Society of Civil Engineering.
In the future, the council's governing board will present the award every three years to an organization member who has provided exceptional educational services in the field, which involves geology, civil engineering and other branches of engineering and the sciences.
The council's board cited Elton as the first recipient because of pioneering work at all levels of geotechnical education. Among those contributions, he organized and taught a weeklong "Professor Training Course for Geosynthetics," held for five years at Auburn; conducted geotechnical short courses and related videos on geosynthetics; and developed the Soils Magic book and perfomance/instruction program as an introduction to the field for young people and the general public.
Elton, who has taught at AU for 16 years, is listed in Who's Who in Engineering Education for 2002 and is this year's ASCE Geo-Institute nominee for Career Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is on sabbatical this semester at Utah State University in Logan, Utah.
feb02: AU-elton
CONTACT: Civil Engineering Department, 334/844-4320; or Elton, 435/797-2932,