Dr. George Munfakh

CEE Hall of Distinction: 2004

Dr. George A. Munfakh presently serves as Senior Vice President of Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas engineering firm at which he is in charge of the Geotechnical and Tunneling Division. He is considered one of the leading innovators in the field of geotechnical engineering. Dr. Munfakh received his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Aleppo, Syria, in 1967. He received both his Master of Science and his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University in 1970 and 1973, respectively.

Dr. Munfakh has 30 years of experience with Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade, & Douglas. As the manager of the Geotechnical and Tunneling Division, 96 staff in eighteen offices report to Dr. Munfakh. His project experience includes underground facilities, marine facilities, and surface facilities. Dr. Munfakh is considered a worldwide recognized expert in ground improvement and has given many keynote conference speeches on the subject.

Some of Dr. Munfakh’s professional affiliations include the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, Chi Epsilon, and Phi Kappa Phi. He was also the past chairman of the Met Section Geotechnical Division. Some of the awards and honors that Dr. Munfakh has received are the American Road & Transportation Builders Association’s Globe Award for Environmental Excellence (2002), presenting the prestigious ASCE Martin S. Kapp Lecture (1999), Parsons Brinckerhoff Professional Publication Award for the technical paper entitled, “Ground Improvement Engineering – The State of the Practice” (1996) and the Michael Claus Memorial Award for Excellence in Engineering Research from LSU (1973). Dr. Munfakh has professional registration in Syria.

Dr. Munfakh has published over 35 works during his career. He is a highly respected engineer who has continued to share his expertise with the profession through papers, lectures, and seminars.