AUSTIN, TX — On April 30, 2009, the Texas Society of Professional Engineers (TSPE) announced Dr. William H. Espey, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, founding AAWRE board member and trustee, as the recipient of the Engineer of the Year. This honor is the highest accolade the state bestows and is awarded annually to a deserving engineer in the state of Texas for their service and dedication to their profession. Dr. Espey was presented with the award at the TSPE Annual Meeting in Frisco, Texas, on June 19.

Dr. Espey came to the University of Texas in 1956 on a football scholarship, and left with a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D., (1965) in Civil Engineering. He is presently President of Espey Consultants, Inc. with offices in Dallas, Houston, Austin, New Braunfels, and Amarillo. His pioneering work in urban hydrology is documented in a number of text books, design manuals and various professional publications and has been utilized in various parts of the country (City of Austin, Tennessee Valley Authority, State of Pennsylvania, and Denver Urban Drainage and Flood Control District) in terms of design and floodplain delineation. Dr. Espey co-founded Espey, Huston & Associates, Inc. (EH&A) in 1972 and served as President and Chairman of the Board until 1993. EH&A was an engineering and environmental consulting firm with over 1,000 employees ranking of 56th of the top 500 engineering firms in the United States by Engineering News Record at one time.

He received the EWRI/ASCE 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award '"In recognition of his lifelong and eminent contribution to the environmental and water resources engineering disciplines through practice, research, and public service." He is one of the founding member(s) of the Board of Trustees of AAWRE and on the Accreditation Board for Engineers and Technology (ABET) — Senior Evaluator/Civil Engineering; 1993-present. Dr. Espey was appointed (USACE New Orleans District) as a member of the Independent Technical Review panel (ITR) for the USACE/FEMA Joint Texas Coastal Hurricane Surge Project. Recently, Dr. Espey was elected as the Chair of the Bay and Basin Expert Science Team, as mandated by Senate Bill 3 (80th Texas Legislature) for the Trinity and San Jacinto River Basins and Galveston Bay System. Dr. Espey was appointed to the National Committee on Levee Safety (NCLS) Review Panel by the American Council of Engineering Companies for the: 1) National Committee on Levee Safety 2) National Levee Safety Act, 3) Title IX of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007 (WRDA).

Lieutenant General Carl A. Strock and Assistant Secretary of the Army, John Paul Woodley, Jr., presented Dr. Espey with the Department of the Army Outstanding Civilian Service Medal for his work as a member of the ASCE External Review Panel (ERP). As stated in this award, "Dr. Espey's hard work enabled the direct application of his knowledge in order to rapidly repair and reconstruct the critical civil works structures along the Gulf Coast. Dr. Espey's technical expertise improved the quality of the performance evaluation of the New Orleans Hurricane and Flood Protection System." As stated by Assistant Secretary John P. Woodley, Jr., "Dr. Espey's historic work will not only ensure the safety of the people of New Orleans, but many others throughout the country who depend on our nation's civil works projects for protection of their livelihood." Dr. Espey was appointed by the USACE, Chicago District to serve as chairman of the First, (1981) Second, (1987) Third, (1994) Fourth (1999) Fifth, (2004) and Sixth, (2008) Lake Michigan Diversion Technical Committees as mandated by the modified Supreme Court Decree of December 1980.

Dr. Espey is a long time member of TSPE, a Life Member of ASCE and has been active in ASCE since 1960. He recently served as the General Chair of the 2009 EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress in Kansas City in May. Dr. Espey has been married to his high school sweetheart for 49 years and has 3 children and 8 grandchildren.