Developing the Global Engineering Leader at a Leading Engineering Institution in the Southeast

Professor Adjo Amekudzi-Kennedy’s research, teaching and professional activities focus on civil infrastructure decision making to promote sustainable development. She studies complex real-world systems and develops infrastructure decision support systems to promote sustainable development. Kennedy earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering (Structures) from Stanford University in 1994, a Master of Science in Civil Engineering (Transportation) from Florida International University in 1996; a Master of Science in Civil Infrastructure Systems in 1997, and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Infrastructure Systems) from Carnegie Mellon University in 1999. She directs the Infrastructure Research Group (www.irg.ce.gatech.edu) at Georgia Tech, a group whose vision is to develop thought leaders in engineering and policy development for sustainable development. The IRG focuses on the study, development and application of systems method to manage civil infrastructure as assets for sustainable development. Kennedy has developed undergraduate and graduate courses in Systems Engineering, Transportation Asset Management, and Sustainable Development Planning and Evaluation, published extensively on these subjects, and serves on several professional boards and expert panels including the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE, U.S. National Research Council) and the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC, United Nations). She is coauthor of the college textbook Systems Engineering with Economics, Probability and Statistics, J. Ross Publishing, 2012. She serves on the editorial boards for the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation and Transportation in Developing Economies. Kennedy is the founding chair of the Committee on Sustainability and the Environment of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Transportation and Development Institute. She serves on the advisory board of the Integrated Network for Social Sustainability (INSS) and is a member Research Coordination Network (RCN) on Megacities and Sustainability, both sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Kennedy also serves as Associate Chair for Global Engineering Leadership and Research Development at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech, with responsibilities for managing and expanding the School’s global education, research and outreach programs and impact. Kennedy and her students have been the recipient of several prestigious awards including the 2009 Recent Alumnus Award given by Carnegie Mellon University to recognize outstanding alumni, and the 2014 Charley V. Wootan Award given by the Transportation Board (National Academies) to recognize the best paper in transportation policy and organization. In her leisure time, Kennedy enjoys spending time with her family, playing the piano and painting.