First-Hand:History of an ASEE Fellow - Stephen J. Ressler

History of an ASEE Fellow

Stephen J. Ressler

As of June 12, 2018

Birthplace: Allentown, PA

Birth date: November 10, 1957

Family

My parents, Gene and Dorothy Ressler, were the children of eastern European (Austrian, Hungarian, and Slovakian) immigrants. My dad was born in 1926 and grew up in Northampton, PA. During his teenage years, he dropped out of school to support his family, then was drafted into the Army in 1944. He served as an infantryman in Europe during the final year of World War II. After the war, he went to work as a laborer and, eventually, as a manager in the textile industry in the Lehigh Valley. He married my mom in 1955 and, shortly thereafter, began work on his life’s great enterprise—building the house in which he would raise his family. He did the job entirely on his own—planning the project, taking night classes and reading books to learn the necessary skills, and then doing the work—installing every brick, every piece of lumber, every shingle, every plumbing pipe and fixture, every electrical wire, every appliance. The only tasks for which he hired a contractor were excavating for the foundation and plastering the interior walls. It took him 18 years to finish the job—though we moved into the house in 1966, while it was still unfinished.

This story is relevant to my history as an engineering educator because my father—a high-school dropout—was the most talented engineer I have ever known. I grew up surrounded by his work and constantly in awe of his planning skills, his craftsmanship, his ingenuity, and his ability to master any technology through diligence and self-study. With a role model of this caliber, it was inevitable that I would become an engineer.

I should add that, even though neither of my parents had any post-secondary education, their three children ultimately earned three B.S. degrees in engineering, five master’s degrees, and two Ph.D.s. My brother Gene, a computer scientist, is Professor Emeritus from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and currently works for Google in New York, NY. My sister Dianne is a mechanical engineer living in Florida.

Education

I earned my B.S. degree from the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, graduating 4th in my class in 1979. After serving in the field for eight years as a commissioned officer in the Army Corps of Engineers, I was selected to return to USMA for a three-year tour of duty as a civil engineering instructor. To prepare for this assignment, I attended graduate school at Lehigh University. Originally, I was only expected to earn a Master of Science degree during the two-year period from 1987 to 1989; however, after having completed my first year at Lehigh, I was invited to transition into the Ph.D. program in civil engineering. Surprisingly, both the Army and USMA were able to accommodate this change in plan—though they only allowed me to remain at Lehigh for one additional year beyond the completion of my master’s degree. During this additional year, I completed my coursework, passed my qualifying and general exams, and got started on my research. I was then assigned to attend the Army Command and General Staff Course at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for one year—during which I also completed my doctoral research and defended my dissertation. In the summer of 1991, I finally reported for duty as a new faculty member at USMA, having just completed my Ph.D. a few weeks earlier.

Employment

In the eight years immediately following my graduation from USMA, I served in a series of traditional Army field assignments:

Student in the Engineer Officer Basic Course at Fort Belvoir, VA
Platoon Leader, Company Executive Officer, and battalion staff officer in the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne) at Fort Bragg, NC
Student in the Engineer Officer Advnaced Course at Fort Belvoir, VA
Company Commander and Brigade Engineer in the 12th Engineer Battalion (Mechanized) in Dexheim, Germany
Student in the Combined Arms and Services Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, KS

I then earned my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Lehigh University (as described above) and served a three-year tour of duty as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at USMA. During this assignment, I found teaching to be extremely rewarding and vowed to find an opportunity to return to USMA as a senior faculty member in the future.

From 1994 to 1995 I served as Deputy Commander for Military Programs at the New York District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with responsibility for overseeing all infrastructure construction work at 22 military installations located throughout the northeastern U.S.

In 1995, I was selected as an Academy Professor in the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering and returned to USMA that summer. I spent the remainder of my 34-year military career teaching and serving as a senior faculty leader at USMA. My duty positions included Director of the Civil Engineering Design Group, Director of the ABET EAC-accredited Civil Engineering Program, Deputy Department Head, Vice Dean for Education, USMA Chief of Staff, and Department Head. One of my proudest achievements during this period was my 2007 deployment to Afghanistan to develop and implement a civil engineering program for the National Military Academy of Afghanistan in Kabul. Upon my retirement in 2013, I was promoted to Brigadier General and named Professor Emeritus.

In the years since my retirement I have been working as an independent education consultant, while also remaining extensively engaged in professional service—primarily through a variety of leadership roles in ASEE and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). I have developed four DVD/on-line engineering courses for The Great Courses (https://www.thegreatcourses.com/). These courses have achieved some of the highest customer reviews in the company’s 28-year history. I have also appeared as an engineering expert in three documentary films--“The Tower of Babel” (Blink Films UK for PBS), “The Trojan Horse Mystery” (Blink Films UK for PBS), and “Superweapons of the Ancient World: The Ram” (Darlow-Smithson for Discovery).

Research and Scholarship

My doctoral research was in the area of structural engineering. (Dissertation title: “Fatigue reliability and redundancy in two-girder steel highway bridges) At USMA, however, I chose to focus my scholarly work in the area of engineering education, rather than in technical engineering. I shall be forever grateful that the Academy was willing to accept this work as legitimate scholarship.

I have written over 70 scholarly papers on the subjects of engineering accreditation, educational policy, curriculum assessment, faculty development, teaching techniques, K-12 engineering outreach, and information technology. I was the founding Program Coordinator for the Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Teaching Workshop--ASCE’s landmark faculty development program—and I have served as a principle instructor for this annual workshop 18 times since 1999. In addition, I developed and served as director of the West Point Bridge Design Contest, a nationwide Internet-based engineering competition that engaged over 100,000 middle school and high school students between 2001 and 2016. I wrote the Bridge Designer educational software package, over two million copies of which have been downloaded since 1998. The Bridge Designer has been recognized nationally with both the Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware and the EDUCOM Medal.

Philosophy of Engineering Education

My philosophy of engineering education is based primarily on the empirically developed two-dimensional model described by Joseph Lowman in Mastering the Techniques of Teaching. In developing the model, Lowman attempted to answer the question, “What constitutes exemplary teaching?” The results of his study indicate that teaching effectiveness can be characterized in terms of two independent dimensions—intellectual excitement and interpersonal rapport.

Lowman notes that effective teachers stimulate students’ intellectual excitement through mastery of the subject, clarity of communication, and organization. More importantly, though, “exemplary teaching is characterized by the stimulation of emotions associated with intellectual activity: the excitement of considering ideas, understanding abstract concepts and seeing their relevance to one’s life, and participating in the process of discovery.”

To stimulate my students’ intellectual excitement, I do the following:

I work hard to master my subject matter before I teach it. In preparing for every class, I try to learn something new about the subject and its relevance to the broader context of the course or the field of study. Thus I am better able to deal credibly with the “why” and “what if” questions that intellectually curious students inevitably ask. And I am better able to appeal to the global learners, who learn best by making connections and placing concepts in broader contexts.
I plan at least one physical demonstration or simulation for every class. The use of these demonstrations emphasizes the physical nature of civil engineering, enhances students’ visualization skills, and appeals to visual learners. More important, it provides all of my students with a learning resource—a way to understand a concept or phenomenon that they probably could not get from any other source.
I consciously vary the organization of my classes to appeal to different learning styles. More often than not, that means organizing my classes inductively, because most textbooks and most traditional engineering classes are organized deductively (e.g., cover the theory, then work the example problem).
I love civil engineering; I love teaching; I love learning; and I attempt to demonstrate my enthusiasm for all three in every interaction with my students. In the process, I attempt to model the zeal for intellectual development that I hope they will all achieve.
I seek to engage all students in the learning process in every class. To accomplish this, I attempt to build my classes around questioning. My goal is for every major learning point in every class to originate from the students, in response to well-crafted, thought-provoking questions. I also use small-group activities, student board work, role-playing, and classroom assessment techniques to further enhance student engagement.
I attempt to engage students outside the classroom through challenging, well-crafted homework and projects. Homework is active learning. Well-designed homework clearly reinforces the students’ principal responsibility for learning. It can enhance students’ interest in course material, build their confidence in the subject matter and in their problem-solving skills, and heighten their sense of accomplishment.

To develop interpersonal rapport with my students, I do the following:

I learn the first names of all students I teach, no later than Lesson 2.
I attempt to establish a “high challenge, low threat” atmosphere in the classroom.
I make myself as available as possible for academic assistance. I encourage students to call me at home with legitimate questions about assignments.
I find ways to demonstrate flexibility and responsiveness to cadets’ needs.

ASEE Activities

Service on the ASEE Civil Engineering Division Executive Board:

Past Chair, 2003-present
Division Chair, 2002-2003
Division Vice Chair and Program Chair, 2001-2002
Division Director, 1998-2001
Chair, Computer Applications Committee, 1996-1997

Conference Director, ASEE Zone I Conference, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, 2002

Distinguished Lecture Speaker, 2012 ASEE Annual Conference

ASEE Awards for Teaching and Service:

George K. Wadlin Distinguished Service Award, ASEE Civil Engineering Division, 2007
Distinguished Educator Award, ASEE Middle Atlantic Section, 2000
Dow Outstanding New Faculty Award, ASEE Middle Atlantic Section, 1997

ASEE Best Paper Awards:

Glen L. Martin Best Paper Award, Civil Engineering Division, 2013
Best Paper Award, Professional Interest Council I, 2011
Glen L. Martin Best Paper Award, Civil Engineering Division, 2010
Glen L. Martin Best Paper Award, Civil Engineering Division, 2009
Best Paper Award (with Decker Hains), Professional Interest Council I, 2008
Glen L. Martin Best Paper Award, Civil Engineering Division, 2007
Best Paper Award (with David Cottrell), Mechanics Division, 1997
Glen L. Martin Best Paper Award, Civil Engineering Division, 1995
Best Paper Award, Mechanics Division, 1993

Other Professional Activities

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE):

Lehigh Valley Section – Board of Directors, 2016-present; Outreach Committee, 2016-present
Committee on Accreditation – Member, 2012-2018; Chair 2015-2017
Raise the Bar Committee – Member, 2012-2015
Committee on Global Principles for Professional Conduct – Member, 2009-2011
Committee on Curricula and Accreditation – ASEE Liaison, 2001-2003; Member, 2003-2006; Chair, 2006-2007
Accreditation Subcommittee, Committee on Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice – Member, 2004-2006; Chair, 2006-2012
Committee on Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice – Member, 2005-2012
Educational Activities Committee – Member, 2004-2007; Chair 2008-2011
Committee on Faculty Development – Member, 1998-2001; Chair 1999-2000
Excellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Teaching Workshop – Workshop Coordinator, 1999-2001, 2008; Instructor and Team Mentor, 1999-2012, 2014-2018
ExCEEd Student-Educator-Practitioner Teaching and Learning Workshop – Developer and Instructor, 2001-2002
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice – Associate Editor, 2003-2006
Civil Engineering Department Heads Council – Member 2000-2013

ABET Accreditation:

ASCE Delegate, ABET Board of Delegates, 2015-present
ASCE Delegate, ABET Engineering Area Delegation, 2015-present
Member, ABET Innovation Award Committee, 2016-present
Member, ABET Board of Directors, 2011-2015
Member, ABET Global Council, 2012-present
Member, ABET Board Nominating Committee, 2012-present
Instructor, ABET Program Evaluator Training Webinar, 2005-2006
ABET EAC Program Evaluator, 2002-2007

Other Professional Service:

Member, Lehigh Valley Engineering Council, 2016-present
Member, Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Board, Lehigh University, 2014-present
Contest Director, Engineering Encounters Bridge Design Contest, 2013-2016
President, Board of Directors, Engineering Encounters, Inc., 2013-2015
Contest Director, West Point Bridge Design Contest, 2001-2012
Commencement Speaker, Lehigh University ROTC Graduation – 2009
President, West Point-Stewart Post, Society of American Military Engineers, 1998-2006
Member, Board of Directors, West Point Link, Order of the Engineer, 2003-2010

Military Professional Qualifications:

Master Parachutist, 1982
Pathfinder, 1981
Jumpmaster, 1980