ON THE ROAD WITH CIVIL ENGINEERING ALUMNI
By Carolyn Oldenburg, Director of Development

Did you know there are over fifty civil engineering alumni living in Little Rock, Arkansas? I had the opportunity to catch up with several of them this past fall and winter, and here is a quick report:

Scott Anderson (BSCE '86) knows soil. After graduating from the University of Memphis, Scott went on to earn a Master of Science in geotechnical engineering from Oklahoma State. For the past twenty years, Scott has led his family-owned geotechnical engineering business, Anderson Engineering Consultants. Clients include Dillard's Department Stores, Frito Lay and Nestle Foods. When Scott is not in the field, he can be found coaching his son's 16 and under AA baseball team (who incidentally finished second in the nation last year!), encouraging his daughter in her second semester at the University of Little Rock Arkansas, and spending time with his wife of twenty-one years, Kathy, and their five dogs, including two blue-eyed Siberian Huskies (Grace and Zena).

Doug Ford (BSCE '84) is expanding his environmental engineering consulting and construction firm, PMI (Pollution Management, Inc.) to include a new office in DeSoto County, Mississippi. Doug has been with PMI since 1992, and he has designed and implemented environmental projects throughout Arkansas and the surrounding states. Doug and his wife, Susan, have two boys who keep them busy with golf lessons, soccer and basketball.

Leslie Haynie (BSCE '92) is the construction materials manager for TerraCon's Little Rock office. Her recent projects include the Dynegy power plant in Osceola, Arkansas, Two Pines Landfill new cell construction, Comfort Suites in Hot Springs, Arkansas and Medical Plaza in Hot Springs. Leslie and her children compete at the national level in the Western Pleasure events and the speed events with several paint horses they raised and trained.

When Steve Heye (BSCE '79) isn't hard at work as a Senior Design Engineer at the Arkansas Highway Department, he can be found in the great outdoors volunteering his time and engineering skills to trail maintenance in the Ozark Mountains. Steve is active with the Ozark Society (the group responsible for the formation of the Buffalo River National Park). One of their current projects is to construct over 40 miles of new trail to connect existing trails in Arkansas and Missouri. Once completed, hikers will be able to travel from Ft. Smith, Arkansas to St. Louis, Missouri using the trail system.

Ed Hoppe (BSCE '74) is currently the Division Engineer for the Programs and Contracts Division with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. His responsibilities include managing federal funds, handling project lettings and supervising a staff of 30. Ed also volunteers his time to connect fellow civil engineering alumni with the College and spread the word about up-coming events and current projects. Ed has been married 33 years. He and his wife, Celeste, have 3 children, Neal, Emily and Ellen, and one grandchild Saida Jane. Many of you may remember the photograph, which ran in the last issue of Concrete Issues, of Saida dressed up like Harry Potter. This photograph also appeared in Entertainment Weekly and Time Magazine!

As a woman student in civil engineering in the 70s, T.L. Jumper (BSCE '77) broke the mold. And as female civil engineer in charge of construction for the City of Little Rock, she continues to break barriers. T.L. has been with the City of Little Rock for ten years. During that time, she has established herself as a no-nonsense, fair and accomplished professional. While T.L. certainly has a lot to be proud of professionally, her true pride and joy are her children. Her son was a recipient of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and is now a Marshall Scholar pursuing a doctoral degree in physics at the University of Cambridge, and her daughter is a pre-med student at the University of Arkansas.

Paul and Janet Simms (BSCE '76 and BSEE '76) were college sweethearts who will be celebrating 31 years of marriage this year. Paul is a staff planning engineer with the Arkansas Highway Department, and Janet is a senior project manager with AT&T. Janet and Paul have two children. Their daughter is pursuing a civil engineering degree at the University of Arkansas, and she has a summer internship with an engineering firm in Memphis. Their son is an in-coming junior in high school, and he hopes to attend Georgia Tech. Last summer, Paul and Janet took their children on the trip of a lifetime. They visited London, Paris and Rome. The highlight of the trip was seeing the Eiffel Tower.

Stay tuned for the next edition of On the Road … I may be coming to your town soon!