NYU-Poly Civil and Urban Engineering Professor Honored for Her Dedication to Teaching

The national civil engineering honor society Chi Epsilon has awarded Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) professor Anne Dudek Ronan the 2013 Chi Epsilon Excellence in Teaching Award for the Metropolitan District, which includes schools throughout New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The award recognizes Ronan for her dedication and enthusiasm for teaching, and her merging of a rigorous academic style with an emphasis on skills that students need for a successful engineering career.

Ronan serves as an industry professor in the NYU-Poly Civil and Urban Engineering Department.  She teaches a wide range of core classes in the undergraduate program, including Introduction to Civil Engineering, a required freshman course, as well as several graduate courses. In addition to teaching, Ronan advises master’s degree students on graduate projects, serves as faculty advisor for both Chi Epsilon and the New York Water Environment Association student chapters, serves on the department PhD program committee, and recently chaired the two-day American Society of Civil Engineers Metropolitan Section Infrastructure Group seminar entitled “Impact of Sandy’s Storm Surge on NY/NJ Infrastructure,” which drew close to 200 attendees. 

This marks the second time she has received this award; Chi Epsilon also awarded it to her in 2008, when she was an adjunct professor at The Cooper Union. She was also nominated to The Cooper Union Students’ List, recognizing professors for their passion and dedication, in 2008 and was awarded the San Jose State University College of Engineering Applied Materials Excellence in Teaching Award in 1997.

Ronan has been a member of Chi Epsilon since her own student days at the Cooper Union and has been a faculty advisor at NYU-Poly since 2011. Under her guidance, NYU-Poly’s Chi Epsilon chapter has undergone an exciting revitalization. She implemented a mandatory service requirement for initiates, most of whom now serve as tutors.

“If asked to describe an ideal teacher, I could not come any closer than pointing to Anne Dudek Ronan,” said Lawrence Chiarelli, the interim head of NYU-Poly’s Department of Civil and Urban Engineering. “She is a recognized scholar, she is dedicated to her students, and she has a deep understanding of the role of the civil engineering professional in our society.”

Chi Epsilon was founded in 1922 to recognize and honor civil engineering students and professionals and now has 130 active chapters at universities across the United States. The organization has initiated over 112,000 members since its inception. Members are selected on the basis of their scholarship, character, practicality, and sociability, considered by Chi Epsilon to be the four primary traits of a successful engineer.