NJIT's Stephen George Honored with ASCE Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award

What began in his third year attending NJIT came full circle this year for Stephen George, CEE’s associate director of undergraduate programs and academic advisor. In June, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) selected him as the recipient of the ASCE Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award. 

In 2009, he joined the NJIT student chapter of ASCE, becoming more involved with the Steel Bridge Team. He competed as a builder in 2011, when the team took home first place in the regional competition and made it to nationals at Texas A&M University. The following year, George was co-captain of the team, which again landed in the top spot regionally and placed 15th in the national competition. The same year, he helped resurrect the ASCE Concrete Canoe Team after a 10-year hiatus. He filled the position of a rower, and the team was awarded first place regionally. 

Even after graduating in 2012, George continued to support and interact with the ASCE teams as an external advisor, mentoring students with the leadership and technical skills he applied while a member himself. A few years down the road, he joined CEE as the director of labs for education, continuing to work with the teams and NJIT-ASCE executive board — but at an even deeper level. Finally, in 2023, he was appointed to the official role of faculty advisor for the student chapter. 

Since then, the chapter has prevailed in a number of aspects. A student member, Saad Rehmatullah, was selected for the ASCE Student Leadership Award in 2024; NJIT-ASCE was recognized with the 2025 Certificate of Commendation — a distinction for the top 5% of all student chapters in the nation; and the chapter successfully hosted the 2025 ASCE Metropolitan Symposium on NJIT’s campus and at White Meadow Lake, which included six competitions and welcomed 13 universities from the region. 

ASCE’s Outstanding Faculty Awards are given each year by the Committee on Student Members to faculty advisors who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and support to their ASCE Student Chapter. One of the criteria includes having established exceptional dedication to ASCE student members and emphasized the value of ASCE involvement during college and after graduation — elements that George had organically gathered for the last 15 years. 

“I was floored when I received the award email from ASCE. I had known that the students and some of my peers had submitted recommendation letters, but I never thought I would get the award, considering how stacked the field is,” he comments. “Our student chapter, staff, faculty and practitioner advisors have been putting in a ton of work lately, and it feels great to be recognized for it.”

George feels deeply honored to be named the recipient of this award. “Thank you to the ASCE Committee on Student Members for this recognition. It truly means a great deal,” he says. “I’m especially grateful to the incredible students of the NJIT ASCE Student Chapter, whose passion, leadership and teamwork make this role so rewarding.”

He also appreciates NJIT’s department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, his colleagues, mentors and support system, as their encouragement and collaboration have made this journey possible. He emphasized, “This is a team effort!”