Daniel W. Halpin, Professor Emeritus and retired Bowen Head of the Division of Construction Engineering and Management at Purdue University, received a 2008 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The award was presented February 7 at the annual Chicago Regional Dinner Meeting of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association, held at the Union League Club of Chicago.

Halpin was cited, “For an exemplary 30-year career as an educator and researcher, and for introduction of, and demonstrated use of, innovative tools for the simulation and analysis of construction operations.”

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Halpin earned both a master’s degree (1969) and a Ph.D. (1973) in civil engineering from the U of I. The author of numerous books and papers, Halpin is the developer of the CYCLONE simulation system, which is used to simulate and study construction processes. The system is used worldwide by construction researchers and educators. His textbook, “Construction Management,” is a basic text at many engineering universities.

Prior to joining the faculty at Purdue, Halpin was a member of the civil engineering faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Clark Chair Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Maryland. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and the University of Sydney in Australia. During his 18 years at Purdue, Halpin built an internationally recognized undergraduate and graduate program which has produced outstanding leaders in the field.

Halpin's other accolades include the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize (1979) and the Peurifoy Construction Research Award (1992). In 2006, he was made an Honorary Member of ASCE and received the Construction Industry Institute's Carroll H. Dunn Award of Excellence. He was inducted as a member of the National Academy of Construction (NAC) in 2003.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a top-ranked department with more than 12,000 alumni worldwide. The annual Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award recognizes professional accomplishments or unique contributions to society by alumni of the department. The complete list of 2008 winners appears below.

Arun Chaiseri (MS 1960), President, Chaiseri Consulting Engineers Ltd., Bangkok, Thailand
Robert W. Cusick (BS 1975, MS 1976), Executive Vice President, Hanson Professional Services Inc., Springfield, Illinois
Daniel W. Halpin(MS 1969, PhD 1973), Professor Emeritus, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana
Carl W. Muhlenbruch (BS 1937), awarded posthumously, former Chairman of the Board, TEC-Search Inc., Wilmette, Illinois
James K. Wight (PhD 1973), Frank E. Richart Jr. Collegiate Professor of Civil Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan