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Looking Forward

5/1/2007

When I teach my students how to write a report, they learn to start with a description of the work that preceded their own. This not only serves as a good introduction, but also places everything they describe in the proper context. More often than not, their work builds on that of their predecessors. With a little thought, it is clear that the same is true in most of what we do in life, and it is certainly true for me.

As I begin my year as President, I do so with a feeling of gratitude for all the support I've received over the years from my teachers, mentors, and fellow ACI members, and from my family, especially my wife Diane. Serving as the ACI President is the honor of a lifetime.

I would like to use this first memo to let you in on some of my background and to briefly describe my goals for the coming year.

I did my undergraduate and master's work at Cornell University and received superb training in structural engineering and concrete materials. My instructors included three future Honorary Members of ACI. I remember spending many hours in the library doing background research using the ACI Journal, and one of the first things I did as a graduate student, now nearly 40 years ago, was to join ACI as a student member.

After receiving my bachelor's degree, I went on active duty in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 5 years. My first tour was to receive my master's. I then served in combat and construction engineer battalions, including a year in Vietnam, and as an instructor at the U.S. Army Engineer School, then located at Fort Belvoir, VA. During my tour in Vietnam, I served in the same battalion as another future ACI President, Terry Holland. I expect that the 589th Engineer Battalion is the only one that can boast two ACI Presidents.

Upon leaving the service, I pursued the PhD at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, another great institution with strong ACI ties, where I felt the professors treated the graduate students more like colleagues than as students.

In 1974, I joined the faculty at the University of Kansas, where I have been given the freedom and support to pursue study in a wide variety of subjects, most dealing with plain or reinforced concrete. I attended my first ACI convention in 1976, in Mexico City, and remember being overwhelmed by the opportunity to meet some of the giants in the field of concrete technology upon whose work my research had been built. During that first convention, ACI President Russ Fling invited a number of young members, including myself, to lunch-not a bad start!

During my years in ACI, I have received technical and professional guidance and personal support from ACI's top leaders. I am pleased that the tradition of ACI leaders at all levels serving as mentors for younger members continues to this day.

Over time, I have become more and more aware that the success of the Institute is based upon both the technical contributions and leadership of its volunteer members and the efforts of the extraordinarily strong ACI staff. That impression has only been strengthened during my 2 years as ACI Vice President and a member of the Institute's Executive Committee.

As I assume the Presidency, ACI is in perhaps its strongest financial position in history, and we are using that strength to improve our service to you and the concrete industry. Two of the most visible improvements are the new member benefits and the free e-membership for students, rolled out during the past year.

During the coming year, my objectives will include the continued development and implementation of strategies to increase ACI membership, strengthening ACI's role internationally, reaching out to all members of the concrete industry to increase their participation in ACI, and expanding our working relationships with other technical societies. In addition, I plan to work on strengthening ACI's already strong and effective certification program, which is playing a wider and wider role in improving the quality of concrete construction around the globe.

To conclude, I again express my gratitude for the great honor you have bestowed upon me. I know that my success as President and the success of the Institute will be firmly founded on your dedicated efforts.

I am very much looking forward to the coming year!

David Darwin
American Concrete Institute

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