Eminent Scholar program
What is the Eminent Scholar program?
The Eminent Scholar program brings distinguished full professors in construction engineering and management from peer institutions to the Del E. Webb School of Construction to foster meaningful collaboration, enrich scholarly exchange and highlight excellence within the discipline. Eminent Scholars are invited to an on-campus visit based on their exceptional academic achievements, leadership and impact on research and practice. The program provides a platform to showcase their career highlights and academic work and enrich the academic environment of the Del E. Webb School of Construction. Established through a generous donation from the Del E. Webb Foundation, the program confers upon each invited professor the honorary title of Eminent Scholar by the Del E. Webb School of Construction.
What is an Eminent Scholar visit like?
During a two-day visit, the distinguished professor engages in scholarly activities, including individual meetings with non-tenured faculty members, a classroom presentation, a public research seminar, a discussion session with doctoral students and meetings with faculty members and leadership from both the Del E. Webb School of Construction and the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. Eminent Scholars can also request meeting with other faculty members or leaders at Arizona State University whose interests align with their own.
What are the benefits of hosting Eminent Scholars?
Hosting Eminent Scholars strengthens our academic community by creating opportunities for collaboration, networking and mentorship. Because only a few select full professors with distinguished careers are invited, the program brings high-level expertise and visibility to the Del E. Webb School of Construction. On-campus visits foster long-term professional and scholarly relationships, so each Eminent Scholar becomes a valued, enduring partner within our community.
Eminent Scholar visit March 23-24, 2026
Dr. Matthew R. Hallowell
University of Colorado Boulder Professor Matthew R. Hallowell has dedicated his career to the mission of eliminating serious injuries and fatalities through science. Hallowell is the founder and executive director of the Construction Safety Research Alliance.
He is the author of the international bestselling book “Energy-Based Safety,” and he has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal papers that translate safety science into practical, field-ready methods.
Hallowell advises major industry organizations on implementing energy-based safety approaches, and his work is grounded in his first-hand experience as a construction laborer and project engineer.
Seminar: 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on March 24, 2026, in HLMK 333
Professor Hallowell’s seminar will focus on how rates of less severe injuries have declined across the construction industry over recent decades, yet serious injuries and fatalities, or SIFs, have remained flat. This has revealed a fundamental limitation in prevailing safety research and practice that has long been dominated by conceptual models and philosophical debates. Meaningful progress in SIF prevention requires a shift toward approaches grounded in scientific principles, clear definitions and empirical methods of measurement and monitoring. This presentation introduces Energy-Based Safety, or EBS, as a scientific framework for preventing SIFs in construction, centered on the physics of energy transfer, the identification of high-energy hazards and the reliability of controls designed to neutralize them. EBS core principles will be presented along with a practical construction case example demonstrating how energy-focused analysis clarifies risk pathways, strengthens decision-making and enables more targeted prevention.
Eminent Scholars
Dr. Lucio Soibelman
Fred Champion Chair in Engineering
Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Spatial Sciences Institute
Viterbi School of Engineering
University of Southern California
Dr. Janaka Yasantha Ruwanpura
Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
Schulich School of Engineering
University of Calgary
Dr. Baosong Ma
Professor
School of Civil Engineering
Sun Yat-Sen University
Formerly: Professor
China University of Geosciences (Wuhan)
Dr. Yvan Beliveau
Professor Emeritus of Building Construction
College of Architecture and Urban Studies
Virginia Tech
Dr. Carlos Caldas
Gerard A. Rohlich Regents Professorship in Civil Engineering
Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Cockrell School of Engineering
The University of Texas at Austin
Dr. John Gambatese
Professor
Organizations
Civil and Construction Engineering
College of Engineering
Oregon State University
Dr. Charles Jahren
Morrill Professor Emeritus of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering
Iowa State University
Dr. Jeffrey Russell
Vice Provost for Lifelong Learning
Dean of Division of Continuing Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Formerly: Professor and Chair
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Ray Sterling
Professor Emeritus and Research Professor
Trenchless Technology Center
Louisiana Tech University
Formerly: Contractors Educational Trust Fund Professor of Civil Engineering
Director of the Trenchless Technology Center
Louisiana Tech University
Dr. Dongping Fang
Professor
Director of Institute for Future Cities and Infrastructures
Department of Construction Management
School of Civil Engineering
Tsinghua University
Dr. M.S. Mathews
Past Director
Alpha College of Engineering-Chennai
Formerly: Professor
Chair of Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology-Madras
Dr. Miroslaw “Mirek” Skibniewski
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Maryland Robotics Center
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
A. James Clark School of Engineering
University of Maryland
Dr. Carl T. Haas
University Research Chair
Professor
Chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
University of Waterloo
Formerly: Professor
Clyde E. Lee Endowed Fellow in Transportation Engineering
Director of the Center for Construction Industry Studies
Cockrell School of Engineering
University of Texas at Austin