Jesus M. de la Garza

Director, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences
Professor of Civil Engineering

Education:
Ph.D., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois, 1988
M.Sc., Civil Engineering, University of Illinois, 1984
B.Sc., Civil Engineering, Tecnológico de Monterrey, México, 1978

Areas of Interest
Construction Engineering and Management, Highway Infrastructure Management, Information Technology in Construction, and Design-Construction Integration. My Philosophy towards the A/E/C Industry is:
1) Construction is the last phase of the Design process.
2) Design is not what is on CAD drawings; rather, Design is what gets built. 
3) Design-construction integration is fundamental.

Work Experience

• Chair, National Academies' Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment, BICE (2023-2026)
• Editor-in-Chief for ASCE's Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (2011-2024)
• Member of the National Research Council's Committee on Defense Materials, Manufacturing, and Infrastructure (2010-2016)
• Member of the National Research Council's Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (2008-2014)
•  Program Director, National Science Foundation, Civil and Mechanical Systems Division (2004-2006) 
•  Assistant, Associate, Professor, Vecellio Professor, Virginia Tech, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (1988-2019)
• Project Engineer with the ICA Group, Mexico City (1978-1982)

Honors and Awards

• 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association
• 2021 Outstanding Projects And Leaders (OPAL) Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
• Distinguished Member of ASCE (2014)
• Vecellio Endowed Professorship (2003)
• The Construction Industry Institute's Richard L. Tucker Award for Leadership and Service (2013)
• John L. Tishman Distinguished Lecture, University of Michigan (2013)
• Fellow of the Construction Management Association of America (2011)
• The Construction Industry Institute's Outstanding Instructor Award (2013)
• The Construction Industry Institute's Distinguished Professor Award (2009)
• Visiting Eminent Scholar at the Del E. Webb School of Construction at Arizona State University (6/04 and 4/13)
• The College of Engineering Dean's Award for Research Excellence (2012)
• The College of Engineering Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence (2009)
• The College of Engineering Dean's Award for Service Excellence (2014)
• ASCE Peurifoy Construction Research Award (2011)
• Member of the National Academy of Construction (2010)
• ASCE Faculty of the Year Award,  Student Chapter, Virginia Tech. (1998)
• ASCE Best Paper Award, Technical Council on Computer Practices, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering (1998)
• ASCE Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize (1992)
• ASCE Appreciation Certificate for outstanding service as Faculty Advisor to the Student Chapter (1990)
• Who's Who in Computing (1989)

Selected Research Projects

• Flash Tracking for Accelerated Project Delivery (APD), Phase III, VDOT
• Flash Tracking for Accelerated Project Delivery (APD), GDOT
• Flash Tracking for Accelerated Project Delivery (APD), Phase I and II, VDOT
• RBS: Performance-based decision support system for resilient and sustainable multi-hazard building design, National Science Foundation, with Drs. M. Flint, M. Eatherton, G. Olgun, J. Irish, R. Leon, G. Reichard, A. Rodriguez-Marek
• Successful Delivery of Flash-Track Projects, Construction Industry Institute, with Dr. Pardis Pishdad-Bozorgi at Georgia Tech
• VDOT/VT Partnership for Highway Maintenance Monitoring and Innovation in Maintenance and Construction Contracting, Virginia Department of Transportation, with Dr. M.C. Vorster @ Virginia Tech
• Development of a Highway Maintenance Management System, Swedish National Road Administration, with Dr. Hans Bjornsson @ Chalmers University of Technology

Selected Publications

• de la Garza, J.M., E.S. Geller, Hasanzadeh, S. (2023). The safer you feel, the less safe you might behave – but research suggests ways to counteract this tendency. The Conversation.
• Martin, C. and de la Garza, J.M. (2025). Risk Tolerance in Safety. National Academy of Construction Executive Insights, November 14, 2025.
• de la Garza, J.M., and Pishdad-Bozorgi, P. (2018). “A Workflow Process for Flash Track Projects.” ASCE, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001501
• Shahtaheri, Y., Flint, M.M., de la Garza, J.M. (2018). “Sustainable Infrastructure Multi-Criteria Preference Assessment of Alternatives for Early Design.” Elsevier, Automation in Construction, 96, 16-28
• Franco-Duran, D., y de la Garza, J.M. (2019). “Phantom Float in Commercial Scheduling Software.” Elsevier, Automation in Construction, 103, 291-299
• Shahtaheri, Y., Flint, M.M., de la Garza, J.M. (2019). “A multi-objective reliability-based decision support system for incorporating decision maker utilities in the design of infrastructure.” Elsevier, Advanced Engineering Informatics, 42, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2019.100939
• Franco-Duran, D., and de la Garza, J.M., (2019). “Review of Resource-Constrained Scheduling Algorithms.” ASCE, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, Forthcoming.

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