Engineering dean Benefield honored by alma mater

Engineering Dean Larry Benefield was inducted into the Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni at ceremonies held recently on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Va. Benefield is a 1975 doctoral graduate of Virginia Tech and serves as a member of its civil and environmental engineering alumni advisory board. He joined the faculty at Auburn University in 1979, and was named dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering in 2000. As dean he has been instrumental in the creation of an interdisciplinary automotive certificate program to meet the needs of the state's growing automotive industry; coordinated a joint program with the College of Business that integrates business and management practices for engineering students; and worked to establish the first undergraduate wireless engineering degree program in the nation.