Bernard Amadei

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American civil engineering professor (born 1954)

title: "Bernard Amadei" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1954-births", "living-people", "university-of-colorado-boulder-faculty", "uc-berkeley-college-of-engineering-alumni", "university-of-toronto-alumni", "geotechnical-engineers", "members-of-the-united-states-national-academy-of-engineering", "people-from-roubaix", "20th-century-french-engineers", "21st-century-american-engineers", "american-social-entrepreneurs", "french-civil-engineers", "american-civil-engineers"] description: "American civil engineering professor (born 1954)" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Amadei" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American civil engineering professor (born 1954) ::

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Bernard Amadei (born July 23, 1954) is a French-American geotechnical engineer. He is a professor of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, founding president of Engineers Without Borders (USA), co-founder of the Engineers Without Borders-International Network, and founding director of the Mortenson Center in Engineering for Developing Communities. He is also a recipient of multiple awards and distinctions and holds seven honorary doctoral degrees.

In 2009, he was recognized with an Award of Excellence from Engineering News-Record. In 2012, Dr. Amadei was appointed as a Science Envoy to Pakistan and Nepal by the U.S. Department of State.

Education

Amadei is a native of Roubaix, France, born on July 23, 1954. Amadei earned a Diploma of Engineer (Dipl. Eng.) in 1977 in the area of Applied Geology from the School of Applied Geology and Mining Engineering (Ecole Supérieure de Géologie Appliquée et de Prospection Minière) in Nancy, France (currently known as the École nationale supérieure de géologie or ENSG). Following a year of service in the French Army (August 1977 to August 1978), he began graduate studies abroad. He earned a Master of Science from the University of Toronto in 1979 and was awarded a doctorate (PhD) in civil engineering in 1982 from the University of California, Berkeley for his thesis publication entitled "The Influence of Rock Anisotropy on Measurement of Stresses in Rock in situ."

Establishment of Engineers Without Borders-USA

A firm belief in the principle that engineers must hold the public welfare paramount, or above any other responsibility, led Amadei to reconsider his involvement in a hydroelectric plant in Costa Rica in 2002. He thought that this project would displace too many local residents and violate this principle of "do no harm." This realization came along about two years after his first experience with a humanitarian engineering project.

In 2000, Amadei organized an effort resulting in the construction of a water pump for a village in Belize. He undertook the effort at the suggestion of an immigrant landscaper working at his residence. Amadei saw that the installation of a pump to supply drinking water to the village of San Pablo would have a social impact on this community. Young girls in the village were tasked with carrying water each day from the river to the village. This meant that they could not attend school. Using the engineering talent of himself and his students to bring clean drinking water to the village had a huge social benefit to the community. This comprehension of the larger meaning of engineering inspired Amadei to create a volunteer organization that could enable engineers to donate their services in this manner.

From a small beginning with just a few students volunteering alongside him, the Engineers Without Borders-USA organization has grown to 15,900 members in 400 chapters. Humanitarian aid has been provided in 48 countries, benefiting more than 600,000 people.

Awards and distinctions

  • 1984 Rocha Medal from the International Society for Rock Mechanics - an award issued annually for an outstanding doctoral thesis in the field of rock mechanics.
  • 2007 Hoover Medal.
  • The 13th Annual Heinz Award in the Environment, 2007
  • 2008, Elected member of the National Academy of Engineering (United States) for "the creation of Engineers Without Borders, leadership in sustainable development education, and research on geomechanics."
  • 2009 Award of Excellence from Engineering News-Record for founding Engineers Without Borders (USA).
  • 2009 Elected Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers,
  • 2013 Elected member of the National Academy of Construction (United States)
  • 2011 Elected Senior Ashoka Fellow
  • 2015 Washington Award, The Western Society of Engineers
  • 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers, Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) (education)
  • 2016 C. H. Dunn Award of the Construction Industry Institute
  • 2016 Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado
  • 2021 Maverick Influencer Award, BuiltWorlds
  • 2023 ASEE Hall of Fame Inductee
  • 2024 Honorary Member, American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists.
  • Holds seven honorary doctoral degrees (UMass Lowell; Carroll College; Clarkson, Drexel, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Technion (Israel), SUNY-ESF)

List of works

References

References

  1. (1984). "Nomination for Manuel Rocha Medal, Brief CV of Bernard Amadei". [[International Society for Rock Mechanics]].
  2. University of Colorado Boulder, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department. "Faculty biography". ceae.colorado.edu.
  3. École nationale supérieure de géologie. "History of ENSG". www.ensg.inpl-nancy.fr.
  4. Rubin, Debra K.. (March 30, 2009). "Award of Excellence: Academic ignites engineering talent to drive levele of needed change". [[McGraw-Hill]].
  5. Michels, Spencer. (December 7, 2007). "Engineers Lend Technical Aid to Developing Countries". [[Public Broadcasting Service]].
  6. "ISRM: The Rocha Medal". [[International Society for Rock Mechanics]].
  7. [http://heinzawards.net/recipients/bernard-amadei The Heinz Awards, Bernard Amadei profile]
  8. [[ASCE]], [http://content.asce.org/handa/DistinguishedMemberClass2009.html 2009 Distinguished Members] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-11-29 .)
  9. National Academy of Construction, [http://www.naocon.org/index.php?option=com_comprofiler&task=userprofile&user=475 Member Page], Bernard Amadei. [[The University of Texas at Austin]], Austin, Texas, 2013.
  10. Ashoka, [https://www.ashoka.org/fellow/bernard-amadei Bernard Amadei]. 2009.

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