Dunn Receives National Engineering Service Award

Contact: Philip Dunn Jr., 581-2326; George Manlove, 581-3756

ORONO — Philip Dunn Jr., professor of construction management in the UMaine School of Engineering Technology, has received the American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2006 Citizen Engineer Award for Region 1, which includes New England.

The national award is one of nine presented nationally to a member of the engineering society in recognition of outstanding accomplishment in public service. Region 1 includes all of New England plus New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico.

Jalal Vahabnezhad of Los Angeles, chair of the ASCE Committee on Volunteer Service, praised Dunn in a congratulatory letter, saying that Dunn has established himself as a dynamic leader who promotes civil engineering to citizens and, in particular, youngsters who might consider a career in civil engineering.

Dunn recently directed and assisted civil engineering students at UMaine who built new ramps at the Good Samaritan Agency in Bangor, painted the interior of the facility and led efforts to provide holiday gifts for teenage mothers served by the agency. The Good Samaritan Agency provides adoption services and social services for single mothers and their children.

The citizen engineer award criteria includes recognition for accomplishments that promote community volunteerism, influence local public policy or legislative affairs and improve the image of the civil engineering profession through personal involvement in public service endeavors.

A resident of Old Town, Dunn has been teaching at the University of Maine since fall 2003. He received the award at the ASCE’s Zone Leadership Award Conference Jan. 27 in Princeton, N.J.