The Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University announced the recipients of the 2020 Distinguished Graduate Award and Distinguished Graduate Legacy Award at the annual scholarship and fellowship banquet held virtually on Nov. 12.
The department also recognized its donors and scholarship recipients during the event.
Distinguished Graduate Awards
Paul W. Denham ’80
In his senior year of high school, Paul W. Denham ’80 made a campus visit to Texas A&M with his high school sweetheart, Elisa, and his best friend, both of whom had Aggie relatives. That visit was pivotal for Denham. He became the first in his family to attend and graduate from Texas A&M with a civil engineering degree, and his high school sweetheart later became his wife.
Today, as a licensed professional engineer, Denham leads a single-family design group in the land development division of Civil Engineering Consultants (CEC). Throughout his career, he was directly involved in the design and subsequent development of approximately 50,000 single-family lots in Bexar County. Prior to CEC, he was the president/owner of Denham-Ramones Engineering, acquired by CEC in 2016.
Along with his full-time job as an engineer, Denham has also held a position on the Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union board of directors for several years. He is currently secretary of the board. He has also concentrated his efforts on economic literacy within the Bexar County community. He served previously as chairman of the Board of Consumer Credit Counseling Services of San Antonio, along with the subsequent transition into the Financial Literacy of South Texas Foundation.
John D. Doucet ’81
For as far back as he can remember, John D. Doucet ’81 was always told by his parents, Dudley and Nita Doucet, that he had to attend college. Neither of them did, but they understood the importance and the value of a college degree. Of all the universities he applied to, Texas A&M was his choice for financial reasons, but it quickly became obvious to him that going there was a true blessing.
Doucet spent the early years of his career managing complex public and private projects with large engineering firms in Texas and California. In 1992, Doucet and his wife Amy, also an Aggie engineer with a bachelor's degree in industrial distribution, co-founded Doucet & Associates, Inc., growing the Texas-based firm from the original three employees to over 80 in 2020.
As executive vice president, Doucet manages and provides oversight to geospatial, planning and engineering services, transportation and public works/water resources. He is also responsible for contract negotiations and client relationship management. Having over 38 years in the civil consulting field, Doucet has built a solid reputation as a valuable industry resource and is regularly called on to provide expertise to panels, advisory boards and professional committees.
Raymond R. Longoria ’77
When Raymond R. Longoria ’77 arrived at Texas A&M in 1974 as a civil engineering major, the enrollment had just reached around 20,000 students. He was looking for a smaller university experience and when he looked at the 1971 Texas A&M catalog there were only about 14,000 students. He thought he would give it a try and transfer to a smaller school if it didn’t work out. But as fate would have it, there was no need. Longoria said Texas A&M felt like the smallest large college that there ever was and he felt right at home.
Longoria is known for his expertise in water and wastewater treatment throughout the state of Texas, having served as engineer of record on some of the largest wastewater and water plant expansion and renovation projects in the state. Throughout his career, he has directed hundreds of water and wastewater treatment projects across the state as engineer and advisor, thus improving the quality of drinking water for millions of Texas citizens and protecting Texas rivers and streams by designing resource recovery facilities that consistently produce outstanding water.
He currently serves Freese and Nichols an account director and senior treatment advisor for the firm. He is working on major initiatives along the Gulf Coast, including FNI’s efforts in seawater and brackish groundwater desalination in Corpus Christi and with the North Alamo Water Supply Corporation.
Dr. Rich S. Szecsy ‘92
Both of Dr. Rich S. Szecsy’s grandfathers, Elmer Szecsy and Arthur Collier, worked with their hands. They both knew what it was to be a practitioner, a tinker, a problem solver. And that’s where Szecsy feels like he got his strong genetics to propel him into engineering.
Szecsy started his collegiate career at another university, but it was limited on engineering opportunities, and he found his way to Texas A&M. There was no question where he needed to be and it became life-changing. Szecsy met his wife, Amanda Lindley ’94, while sitting in a survey class.
Now Szecsy is the chief operating officer of Charley's Concrete. He has worked internationally as a technical expert for a $4 billion ready-mix and aggregate company, a university department head and as an independent engineering consultant. He serves on several state and national committees, as well as boards of direction for Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association, the American Society for Testing and Materials, the American Concrete Institute, the American Society of Civil Engineers and ASTM, ACI, ASCE and the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association. He has written and collaborated on over 40 articles and publications ranging from concrete material science to technology management and integration for various periodicals including Concrete Producer, Concrete Construction and Concrete International.
Distinguished Graduate Legacy Award
Dean Fred J. Benson '36
The Distinguished Graduate Legacy Award was established in 2014 to honor remarkable former students whose life-long contributions and service have had an immeasurable impact on the civil engineering profession and society. The inaugural recipient H.B. “Pat” Zachry’s lifetime achievements serve as the benchmark against which future consideration of recipients are judged. Dean Fred J. Benson ‘36 was selected as this year’s recipient.
Benson began his service to the civil engineering profession in 1936 as an instructor at Purdue University. When he retired in August 1980, he was deputy chancellor of engineering for The Texas A&M University System and vice president of the Texas A&M University Research Foundation. He earned a master’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M in 1936.
His career positions at Texas A&M included instructor to professor from 1937-55; executive officer, Texas A&M Transportation Institute from 1955-62; dean of engineering from 1957-78; director, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station from 1959-80; and vice president, Texas A&M Research Foundation from 1963-80.
Many of his friends and hundreds of former students continued to affectionately and respectfully call him “dean” long after he no longer officially held that title. His advice to students was always to strive to do the best in every task given you. Tasks are a learning process and how we gain experience. At his retirement in 1980, his message was simple, “Strive for excellence.”