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History::Deans
Buildings | Deans | Firsts of the College | Tech Engineer Magazine
Barry Benedict
Dr. Barry A. Benedict served as Dean of the College of Engineering and Science at Louisiana Tech University from 1988 until 1998. He received his BS, MS, and PhD in civil engineering from the University of Florida. Dean Benedict’s tenure as Dean saw some difficult economic times early in his term. The economy of the state and of the nation was not in top form, and the College of Engineering and Science felt the pinch. Nevertheless, he did everything in his power to maximize the resources available to the College in order to make it an effective institution. One of his first accomplishments as Dean was the awarding of the first Eminent Scholars Chair to Tech’s engineering program. The College also saw the approval of four masters programs in engineering to be offered at Tech Bossier. This occurred in the fall of 1988. Some of his other accomplishments as Dean are the following:
- AT&T Foundation, Advanced Manufacturing Directions, 1989-1992.
- Board of Regents, State of Louisiana, Louisiana Educational Quality Support Fund, Recruitment of Superior Graduate Students.
- National Science Foundation, Louisiana EPSCoR Project, $1.8 million, 1988-1991 (P.I. since August, 1990).
- National Science Foundation, Louisiana EPSCoR Project, $8.1 million, 1992-1995 (P.I., funded).
His areas of specialization are the following:
- Hydraulics
- Modeling of contaminant transport
- Unsteady flows
- Water resources
- Salt water intrusion
Dean Benedict was a regular contributor to Louisiana Tech Engineer magazine in its feature The Dean’s Corner. In each publication, Dean Benedict calmed the concerns of many within the College about economic concerns.
Benedict was also the Jack Thigpen Professor of Engineering. He resigned as Dean in 1988. Some of his miscellaneous research interests are listed below.
- 1969-1973, primarily involved, serving as Deputy Director, with about one-half million dollars of research funding granted by Environmental Protection Agency to Vanderbilt University, designated as the National Center for Research and Training in the Hydrologic and Hydraulics Aspects of Water Pollution Control. Research activities in thermal pollution (see publications for representative activities).
- 1974-1975, Principal Investigator, grant from Exxon Education Foundation for Implementation of Experimental Simulation in Fluid Mechanics Laboratory.
- 1974-1975, Principal Investigator, contract with State of Tennessee to investigate waste assimilative capacity of the Cumberland River near Nashville, Tennessee.
- 1975-1976, Principal Investigator, contract with Public Health Service to develop set of modules for education in fluoridation.
- United States Air Force, Office of Scientific Research, Principal Investigator, project entitled Application of a Near-Field Water Quality Model, 4-1-77 through 3-31-78.
- United States Air Force, Civil Engineering Center, Principal Investigator, project entitled Development of a Model for Spills of Toxic Materials, 7-1-77 through 12-31-77.
- Middle South Services, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana, Principal Investigator, project to develop set of computer models for near-field analysis of thermal discharges into the Mississippi River, 7-1-78 to 12-31-78.
- Middle South Services, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana, Principal Investigator, Improvement of Existing Near-Field Thermal Discharge Models, July 1, 1979-June 30, 1980.
- Reid, Quebe, Allison, Wilcox and Associates, Inc., and Huber, Hunt and Nichols, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, study of Head Loss Characteristics of Ozone Diffuser Assembly, 1981.
- Engineering and Industries Experiment Station, University of Florida, Development of Methods for the Simulation of Thermodynamic Processes in Solar Ponds, Principal Investigator (co-PI Dr. Hillel Rubin), 7-1-81 to 6-30-82.
- NSF International Scientific Equipment Program, Improvement of Undergraduate Hydraulics Laboratory, October 15, 1981-September 30, 1983.
- Sea Grant, Protection of Coastal Waters from Marina-Generated Pollution by Bubble Screens, Co-Principal Investigator (PI Dr. B. A. Christensen), 1981-82.
- OWRT, Development of Simplified Models for the Simulation of Water Quality in Groundwater Systems (Co-PI Dr. Hillel Rubin), March 1982-March 1983.
- OWRT, Extension of Simplified Models Developed for Groundwater Quality Simulation, September 1983-August 1984.
- St. Johns River Water Management District, Development of Models for Simulation of Saline Contamination of Aquifers, September, 1983 - September 1985.
- Florida Department of Transportation, An Improved Model for Analysis of Storm Sewer Systems, July 1983-July 1985.
- Florida Department of Transportation, Development of a Procedure for Estimating Tidally Influenced Discharges through Bridges and Culverts, July 1984-July 1985.
- U.S. Air Force, Environics Division, part of task force on Sorption Kinetics to prepare five-year research plan (PI Dr. James Heaney).
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