Region 7 Board of Governors
Robert W. Stokes, Ph.D., F.ASCE (Kansas Section) Director/Chair
Kansas State University
Dept. of Civil Engineering
2118 Fiedler Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
Tel: (785) 532-1595
Robert W. Stokes earned a bachelor's degree in general engineering from Antioch College, a master of science in civil engineering from Ohio State University, and a doctorate in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University. He is presently professor of civil engineering and adjunct professor of regional and community planning at Kansas State University. He previously served as a program manager in the urban mobility program of Texas A&M University's Texas Transportation Institute, as an adjunct professor of transportation at Texas Southern University, and as an associate research planner at the Texas Transportation Institute. His ASCE involvement has included service as a faculty advisor to Kansas State University's student chapter, a member of the Committee on Student Activities, a member and chair of the District 16 Council, and a Region 7 governor. He is a charter member of the Transportation and Development Institute.
F. Jay Burress, PE, M.ASCE (Kansas City Section) Governor
18787 Walmer Street
Stilwell, KS 66085
Tel: (913) 888-7868
Thomas A. Chapel, P.E., M.ASCE (Colorado Section) Governor
3801 Automation Way, Ste 100
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Tel: (970) 223-9600
Tom is Manager of the Geotechnical Engineering Group in the Fort Collins office of Tetra Tech MM. Tom has a B.Sc. degree in Geology (Mesa State College) and an M.Sc. Degree in Geotechnical Engineering (Colorado State University), and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Colorado, Illinois (in process), New Mexico, Utah, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming; a Certified Professional Geologist; and a Professional Geologist in Texas. In his 30 plus year career, Tom has developed a broad engineering and geologic practice including applications in hard and soft rock mining; transportation; water resources; pipelines and storage tanks; municipal infrastructure; forensics and expert witness services; construction phase services; industrial, commercial and residential development; and environmental engineering/investigation.
Jeffrey L. Fouse, P.E., F.ASCE (St. Louis Section) Governor
1216 Moncoeur Drive
St. Louis, MO 63146
Tel: (314) 569-3866
Jeffrey L. Fouse, P.E., F.ASCE, is a Senior Project Manager and Vice President for Reitz & Jens, Inc., a civil and geotechnical consulting firm in St. Louis, Missouri. He has been with Reitz & Jens since 1997, after several years as an independent consultant. Prior to this position, Jeff was a geotechnical Project Manager for the former Woodward-Clyde Consultants in St. Louis. As an active ASCE member, Jeff has served as Chair of the Technical Activities Committees of the St. Louis Section and as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President and President of the St. Louis Section. He also served as Chair of the District 16 Council, and currently is Chair of the History & Heritage Committee of the St. Louis Section. Jeff received his B.S.C.E. from Ohio State University and his M.S.C.E. in geotechnical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a P.E. in Missouri, Illinois and Kansas. Jeff and Carol have been married for 34 years, have 3 grown children and 4 grandchildren. Jeff is also very active in his church.
Marsia Geldert-Murphey, P.E., M.ASCE (St. Louis Section) Governor-At-Large
Kaskaskia Engineering Group, LL
23 Public Square
Belleville, IL 62220
Tel: (618) 233-5877
Marsia Geldert-Murphey is a Founder and Managing Partner of Kaskaskia Engineering Group, LLC, a full-service disadvantaged business enterprise and woman-owned, licensed professional engineering firm headquartered in Belleville, Illinois.
Marsia obtained her B.S.C.E. from South Dakota State University in 1992 and her M.S.C.E. from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1997. Her professional experience spans the public and private sectors. She directed the Geotechnical and Environmental Site Assessment programs for IDOT District 8 prior to joining a large Midwestern consulting firm, where she managed all transportation related land acquisition, environmental, geotechnical and construction engineering efforts. In 2006, she joined forces with Geri Boyer to form Kaskaskia Engineering Group. Under their leadership, the firm has gained regional recognition for excellence, while adhering to the core values of Faith, Respect, Trust, Striving for Ultimate Potential, Gratitude, Service to Humanity and Partnership. Her commitment to excellence includes a commitment to diversity and sustainability in all facets of engineering.
Marsia has been actively involved in ASCE since college, and has served as the Corresponding Secretary of the South Dakota State University Chapter, and the St. Louis Section Younger Members’ Committee Secretary and Chairperson. She was responsible for coordinating all activities related to the St. Louis Section hosting the Zone III Conference during her tenure as YMC Chair. In 1996, she was named Young Engineer of the Year by the St Louis Chapter. She moved through the ranks within the St. Louis Section Board of Direction serving as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice President, President and Past President. During her tenure as President of the St. Louis Section, the Section co-hosted the Structures Congress in 2006. She currently serves on the National ASCE Committee on Diversity & Women in Civil Engineering and as the ASCE Region 7 Governor-at-Large.
In addition to her ASCE activities she also currently chairs the St. Louis Corps of Engineers /American Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri /American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois Liaison Committee. She has also been an active participant in the recent efforts to increase the presence of underrepresented groups in the labor force constructing the proposed New Mississippi River Bridge between East St. Louis, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri.
Marsia also volunteers to speak to groups of at risk students regarding careers in engineering. She was recently invited by Dr. Linda Baker of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale to speak to 8th grade students attending the Summer Transportation Institute in East St. Louis regarding the importance of math and science classes for a career in engineering.
Marsia resides in Glen Carbon, Illinois with her husband of 24 years, Shane, their two children, Gillian, 9 years old and Myles 7 years old and their 3 year old Catahoula Leopard Dog named Karene.
D. V. Griffiths, Ph.D., D.Sc., P.E., F.ASCE (Colorado Section) Governor/Treasurer Division of Engineering
Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO 80401
Tel: (303) 273 3669
www.mines.edu/~vgriffit
Vaughan Griffiths completed his Masters degree at UC Berkeley and Doctoral degrees at the University of Manchester, U.K. He is currently Professor of Civil Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines where his primary research interests lie in application of finite element methods to a broad range of geotechnical engineering topics. He was previously on the Civil Engineering faculty at the University of Manchester, UK and has held visiting appointments at Princeton University, the University of Sydney, Australia and the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He has written over 200 research papers and is the co-author of three textbooks, “Programming the Finite Element Method”, 4th edition, Wiley (2004), “Numerical Methods for Engineers”, 2nd edition, Chapman & Hall/CRC (2006) and “Risk Assessment in Geotechnical Engineering” Wiley (2008). He gives regular short-courses for ASCE Continuing Education on “Risk Assessment in Geotechnical Engineering” and "Finite Elements in Geotechnical Engineering". He is a Past-President of the Colorado Section of ASCE and currently serves as an Editor of the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering and as a member of the ASCE Publications Committee. Dr. Griffiths is licensed as a Professional Engineer in Colorado and is a Chartered Engineer in the U.K.
Loras A. Klostermann, P.E., M.ASCE (Nebraska Section) Governor/Vice-Chair
The Schemmer Associates
1044 North 115th Street, Ste. 300
Omaha, NE 68154
Tel: (402) 493-4800
Michael Vander Wert, P.E., M.ASCE (Iowa Section) Governor
1358 E 3rd Street
Pella, IA 50219
Tel: (641) 628-8347
