Fall 2009 Newsletter - M E Rinker Sr School of Building Construction ...

Alumni in Higher EducationStarting in the Fall 2006, Orange & Blueprints has highlighted accomplishmentsmade by our graduates in higher education. In thisissue, we are highlighting Professor Theo Haupt, Ph.D. If you area BCN alumni and currently teach at a post secondary constructioneducation program, please send us a short bio of yourself for publishingon this page.Professor Theo Haupt received his Ph.D. Degree in the Collegeof Design, Construction and Planning, M.E. Rinker, Sr. School ofBuilding Construction at the University of Florida in 2001. He iscurrently the Director of the Building Construction Science programat Mississippi State University. Professor Haupt presentlyteaches building construction science studio classes.After returning to South Africa upon completion of his doctoralstudies, Prof. Haupt was appointed as the Research Coordinatorin the Faculty of Engineering at the Cape Peninsula University ofTechnology, the largest university in Cape Town. He was responsiblefor supporting and developing the research initiatives of allthe departments in the Faculty. He established the Southern AfricanBuilt Environment Research Center (SABERC) sourcing majorresearch funding and projects. His research focus areas are constructionhealth and safety, construction education and constructionindustry development.In particular, his work has centered on developing constructioneducation models and issues such as HIV and AIDS in construction,persons with disabilities, older construction worker health andsafety, and gender equity. He is currently working on developingmodels for health and safety culture and performance improvementtargeted at the SMME (Small, Medium & Micro Enterprises) sectorand empowerment of women contractors on a sustainable basis. Hehas conducted collaborative construction health and safety researchprojects with the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, India,the University of Milan in Italy and the International Labor Organizationin Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Full professorship was conferredon him by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in recognitionof his outstanding scholarship.Professor Haupt is a B-rated internationally acclaimed NationalResearch Foundation (NRF) researcher and recently received thePlatinum award for the highest number of Department of Educationsubsidized journal articles and conference papers. To date, he haspublished 60 journal papers, co-authored 12 research-based technicalreports, produced more than 100 conference papers, written 6book chapters and co-edited 2 books and many more conferenceproceedings. He regularly serves on conference scientific and technicalcommittees, and journal editorial boards and reviews paperfor many international journals and conferences. He serves on theEngineering Panel of the NRF and acts as external examiner andmoderator for several university construction programs both nationallyand internationally. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal ofEngineering, Design and Technology, which he launched in 2002and is now published by Emerald Publishing. He is the editor ofthe Journal of Construction, which he established in 2007 with adistribution of more than 5,000 copies at no cost to industry stakeholders.Professor Haupt is currently the President of the Association ofSchools of Construction of Southern Africa (ASOCSA) and hasjust been appointed to the Occupational Health and Safety AdvisoryCouncil of the Minister of Labor in South Africa.Dr. Theo Haupt is currently serving asDirector of the Building ConstuctionScience program at Mississippi StateUniversity.Congratulations to Dr. Kwaku Bentil who was appointed as theFounding Vice Chancellor of Botswana International Universityof Science and Technology. Dr. Bentil has been selected to bein charge of building a completely new university campus communityon 6,250 acres of virgin land in Southern Africa. Dr. Bentilreceived his master’s degree in building construction at UFin 1975 and is the recipient of the2004 BCN Distinguished Alumnusaward. Prior to his current positionhe served as President of MiamiDade College, Associate ViceChancellor for Academic Affairs forthe Southern University and A&MCollege in Baton Rouge, LA, andDepartment Chair for the Univeristyof Washington.Congratulations to Dr. Bradford Sims who will be the newDean of the College of Technology at Indiana State Universitybeginning August 1st. Dr. Sims received his master’s degree inbuilding construction from UF in 1996 and served on the BCNfaculty from 2000 to 2002. He foundedWestern Carolina University’s constructionmanagement undergraduate degreeprogram in 2002 and oversaw its growthto 400 students by 2007. The programwas accredited by the American Councilfor Construction Education in July2009.7