DFI Educational Trust Update Trust Board Meeting at Winter Planning Meeting The DFI Educational Trust Board met on January 29 in Marco Island, Fla., during the Institute’s Winter Planning Meeting. A substantial portion of the day’s agenda was devoted to the discussion and development of a five-year strategic plan to cover the period from 2014-2019. Although the plan is a work in progress that will be finalized over the next few months, board members reached consensus on various initiatives. In the area of fundraising, the Trust board set an ambitious goal of raising a total of at least $1 million by 2019. The efforts will be intensified in several ways: members will approach more industry leaders; expand fundraising drives and campaigns to Canadian companies; and explore new fundraising vehicles such as planned giving, annual appeals, matching gifts and on-line donations. The Trust will seek to grow program- matically by continuing to develop targeted efforts such as the Women in Engineering initiative. In addition, the Trust will explore expanding its scholarship assistance beyond schools of engineering, making funding available to students pursuing studies in other areas relevant to the deep foundations industry. Similarly, the Trust is considering developing programs other than schol- arships that will help young people enter the deep foundations industry, by exploring cooperative relationships with technical schools and other organizations, especially those devoting substantial efforts to STEM (Science, Technology, Engi- neering and Mathematics) initiatives. Finally, the Trust board, with the consent of the DFI Board of Trustees, amended the Trust’s governance docu- ments to allow the addition of several At- Large Trustees who will serve two-year terms and complement the efforts of the five regular members. The board will also add two classes of non-voting Trustees: Emeritus Trustees, composed of former Trust board chairs; and Honorary Trustees, composed of individuals who have in some way performed outstanding service to the Trust. The Trustees are confident that this expansion will solidify and enhance fundraising efforts and develop- ment of the organization. In addition, David Coleman of Underpinning & Foundation Skanska, was elected to a second five- year term as Trustee (2014-2019), and Roger Healey of Goettle, was elected to second two-year term as At-Large Trustee (2014-2016). Trust Board Welcomes New Treasurer Dan Brown, Treasurer Dan Brown joined the DFI Educational Trust Board as trea- surer effective January 1, 2014. Professor Brown is also treasurer of DFI’s Board of Trustees. He is one of America’s leading David Coleman, Chair [email protected] authorities on the construction and design of deep foundations for transportation structures. After 22 years on the faculty at Auburn University, Brown remains active in deep foundation practice through his consulting firm, Dan Brown and Associates. He is the recipient of the DFI Distinguished Service Award, ASCE Martin Kapp Foundation Engineering Award and the ADSC Outstanding Service Award. The elected officers for the 2014 DFI Educational Trust Board are: Chairman: David Coleman Vice Chairman: M. Byrl Williams Treasurer: Dan Brown Secretary: Dan Dragone Upcoming DFI Trust Fundraising Events April 29 Osterberg Memorial Lecture and Dinner in conjunction with the DFI/ADSC Drilled Shaft Seminar, Greensboro, NC July 21 The Annual Golf Outing Fundraiser at Chartiers Country Club in Pittsburgh, PA August The Ben C. Gerwick Award for Innovation in the Design and Construction of Marine Foundations in conjunction with the Marine Foundations Seminar Tarrytown, NY DFI Educational Trust and ACE Mentor Program of NJ Annual Golf Outing at Forsgate Country Club, Monroe Township, NJ October 23 October 27 November Awards Reception/Dinner at DFI’s 39th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations, Atlanta, GA The Annual Golf Outing Fundraiser at the Castlewood Country Club, Pleasanton, CA Annual Gala Fundraising Dinner to benefit DFI Educational Trust Stanley Merjan CCNY Civil Engineering Scholarship, NY/NJ Check for details at www.dfitrust.org DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAR/APR 2014 • 45
