FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - E. Walter LeFevre, university professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of Arkansas, has been named a Distinguished Graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University. Originated in 2000, the award is presented to the department’s most outstanding alumni who have excelled in the civil engineering profession.

LeFevre began his civil engineering career at the age of 16 at Texas A&M, where he completed his B.S. in 1957 and M.S. in 1961. He joined the UA civil engineering faculty in 1966 and continues to teach one course and assist the department in research procurement since his retirement in 1998. During his tenure with the college he has served as head of the civil engineering department, interim Dean of Engineering and founding director of the UA Mack-Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study Center.

LeFevre has held leadership roles with a number of national engineering organizations. He has served as president of the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Arkansas State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and the Arkansas Society of Professional Engineers. As a member of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), LeFevre traveled to a number of engineering schools around the globe to conduct education evaluations. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow in the Institution of Engineers of Ireland and holds the Fellow title in the National Society of Professional Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education.

LeFevre and his wife, Joyce, live in Springdale where he is senior vice president and principal of Engineering Services Inc., and a member of the city’s planning commission.