Thomas E. Cousins of Clemson, South Carolina, and a professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been conferred the title of “professor emeritus” by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.

The emeritus title may be conferred on retired professors, associate professors, and administrative officers who are specially recommended to the Board of Visitors by Virginia Tech President Timothy D. Sands. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board receive an emeritus certificate from the university.

A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1996, Cousins has made significant contributions to the field of civil engineering through his research in structural engineering, specifically in the area of behavior of concrete and pre-stressed concrete bridges. Throughout his career, he has participated in more than $12.8 million of externally funded research.

Cousins has been active in the American Concrete Institute and the Virginia Department of Transportation Bridge Research Advisory Committee, having served as the coordinator of the Structural Engineering and Materials Program.

In addition, he has been director of Virginia Tech’s Murray Structural Engineering Laboratory and was founding director of the Virginia Cooperative Center for Bridge Engineering, jointly administered by Virginia Tech and the Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research.

In the classroom, Cousins developed and taught undergraduate and graduate courses, including required undergraduate structural engineering courses and several graduate-level courses. He as served as advisor or co-advisor for 12 doctoral degree students and 37 master’s degree students.

Cousins received a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Clemson University and a Ph.D. from the North Carolina State University.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

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