Bonaparte named OPAL award winner

In a press release issued last week, the American Society of Civil Engineers named Rudolph (Rudy) Bonaparte as one of its 2016 Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) leadership award winners.

Bonaparte, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE, NAE, is the president and CEO of Atlanta-based Geosyntec Consultants. He will receive the award March 17, 2016, during ASCE’s annual OPAL Gala in Arlington, Va.

The press release stated that Bonaparte “has extensive experience in the siting, design, permitting, construction, and closure of municipal, hazardous, and radioactive waste landfills and liquid impoundments. He is regarded as a national leader in the design and performance evaluation of waste-containment systems for all types of solid waste landfills. He has directed, managed, and served as engineer-of-record on numerous projects for many public- and private-sector clients. He has also conducted extensive research on these systems on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.”

ASCE president, Mark Woodson said: “Bonaparte considers the big picture as he designs and executes municipal, hazardous, and radioactive waste landfills and liquid impoundments. His success comes from his innovative thinking and ability to translate those ideas into extraordinary projects.”

The release noted that prior to his nearly 30-year tenure at Geosyntec, Bonaparte worked with Tensar Corp. in Morrow, Ga., as an applications technology manager, and at Woodward-Clyde Consultants in San Francisco as an assistant project engineer.

Among his many professional awards and honors, Bonaparte was a charter member of the University of California–Berkeley Civil and Environmental Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni, he was the 2000 recipient of the ASCE James R. Croes Medal, and he was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2007.

Bonaparte holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering from the University of California–Berkeley.