On Monday, June 5, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) announced the election of Feniosky Peña-Mora as president-elect of the organization, setting him to become the first Dominican American to hold the position.

The ASCE was founded in 1852, and represents over 150,000 civil engineering industry members. It provides education, holds professional conferences, and acts as an authoritative source for industry codes and standards for the sake of public protection.

As president, Peña-Mora will serve as the spokesperson and chief representative for the ASCE. He will chair the Board of Direction and the Executive Committee.

He will also assist in the education and motivation of members both current and potential through promoting ASCE principles, goals, and policies.

Peña-Mora was elected following a month-long election that ended on June 1, and as president of the ASCE he will oversee its leadership from 2024-2025, serving a 1 year term.

Prior to his appointment, Peña-Mora served on the Board of Direction as an at-large director from 2019 to 2022, also operating as chair of the Board Strategic Advisory Council where he led the development of a new strategic plan for the ASCE.

He has been involved with ASCE since 1990, beginning as a student member and working in various leadership roles internally since 2009, including chair of the Construction Research Council (2009-2011), chair of the International Conference on Sustainable Infrastructure (2017), chair of the Industry Leaders Council (2020-2022).

With over 30 years operating as an educator, Peña-Mora has worked within establishments, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for 9 years, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 10 years, and most recently within Columbia University in New York City, from 2012 to the present.

“We are educators, researchers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs. We think out of the box and bring to the table a combination of pragmatism and vision that allows us to envision a world that does not yet exist and the tools to create it and make it a reality,” said Peña-Mora, in a statement.

“My vision for the future of the ASCE is about how, together, we can build a better world for all,” he continued.

Peña-Mora earned his Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1987, his Master's and PhD in Civil Engineering from MIT in 1991 and 1994, respectively.

Peña-Mora will be formally inducted in the 2023 ASCE Convention’s Annual Business Meeting this fall in Chicago.