Dr. Hota GangaRao has been named the inaugural Maurice A. and Jo Ann Wadsworth Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at West Virginia University. The position honors GangaRao’s commitment to teaching, research, and service to his profession while reflecting on the loyalty and generosity of the Wadsworths.

An accomplished researcher, GangaRao serves as the director of the Constructed Facilities Center at WVU. Established in 1988, the Center serves a number of federal and state agencies, conducting interdisciplinary research in the areas of composite materials, diagnostic tools, design procedures, and structural components. GangaRao also directs the Center for the Integration of Composites into Infrastructure, a National Science Foundation industry/university cooperative research center, founded in 2009. The mission of CICI is to accelerate the adoption of polymer composites and innovated construction material into infrastructure and transportation applications through collaborative research.

“I am honored to be appointed the first Wadsworth professor at West Virginia University,” said GangaRao. “This professorship will provide access to leading industry and government personnel to bridge my College and Center research and development activities, which will result in vast opportunities for potential field implementation of my research.”

The professorship means even more, GangaRao said, because Maurice Wadsworth is the foremost authority in the industry.

A Clarksburg native, Wadsworth earned a degree in civil engineering from WVU in 1951. After a two-year stint in the Air Force, he spent his entire career at Gannett Fleming, Inc., in Harrisburg, Pa. Wadsworth served as a bridge design engineer, chief computer engineer for the transportation division, senior vice president for administration and president and chairman of the board. At the time of his retirement in 1996, the firm employed approximately 1,500 employees in 25 offices. Wadsworth was a professional engineer in 23 states and authored numerous papers.

“We are grateful to both Maurice and Jo Ann Wadsworth for their generosity and support of this department,” said Dr. Radhey Sharma, chair of civil and environmental engineering. “Dr. GangaRao is very deserving of this professorship and it is quite fitting for him to be the first holder of the Wadsworth Professorship of Civil and Environmental Engineering.”

“The College of Engineering and Mineral Resources is grateful to Maurice and Jo Ann Wadsworth for the establishment of this named professorship in civil and environmental engineering,” said Gene Cilento, Glen H. Hiner Dean of the College. “Gifts of this nature allow us to recognize the best of our faculty, in this instance, Dr. Hota GangaRao, and further their research and scholarship in their respective areas of interest.”

GangaRao becomes the fourth faculty member in the department to hold a named professorship.

-WVU-

dar/8/23/11

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CONTACT: Mary C. Dillon, CEMR
304-293-4086; mary.dillon@mail.wvu.edu