Biography
Dr. Girum Urgessa is a Professor of Civil Engineering in the Sid and Reva Dewberry Dept. of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, and Director of Student Leadership and Success in the College of Engineering and Computing at George Mason University. He is also an affiliate faculty of the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and the C4I and Cyber Center. Prior to joining Mason, he was a research engineer at Thornton Tomasetti and a structural engineer at Dekker. He is a Fellow of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Dr. Urgessa is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Maryland.
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​His research interests include dynamic response of structures subjected to air-blast, impact, progressive collapse, and underwater explosions; extraterrestrial construction; and engineering education. His research has been supported by DoD, NSF, ASCE, 4-VA, and ITA. He teaches structural engineering and mechanics courses, and received the John Toups Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Teaching (2022), the Chi Epsilon Cumberland District James M. Robbins Excellence in Teaching Award (2020), and the GMU Teaching Excellence Award (2015).
Dr. Urgessa has served on several professional committees, including ASCE/SEI Retrofit of Structures under Dynamic Loads, ASCE/SEI Blast, Shock, & Impact, ACI Blast and Impact Load Effects, and as a corresponding member on ASCE Committee on Accreditation. He is an Associate Editor of ASCE Practice Periodical in Structural Engineering and Construction, and ASCE OPEN: Multidisciplinary Journal of Civil Engineering. At Mason, he chaired the Faculty Matters Committee of the Faculty Senate, and served on the Faculty Handbook Revision Committee.​