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November 2025 President's Message

Hello ASCE Dallas Branch Members and Welcome to November!

It has been over a year now since our branch celebrated our Centennial; which was complete with awards, recognition, reflection, and plans for the future. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as a whole is 173 years young; and we continue to have exciting endeavors and advocacy for the profession for many more to come.

I start this article in this fashion as I proudly start serving as your ASCE Dallas President for the next year, standing on the shoulders of fantastic leaders and picking up where many paved the way. I am humbled by this thought, and I have some great ideas to hopefully maintain but more importantly enhance and grow.

I have served the branch as Technical Section Director, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, then President-Elect. I am 22 years into the Civil Engineer profession and currently the Central Region & Texas Aviation Lead for AtkinsRéalis. Graduating from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 2004, I was born and raised in the “City of Brotherly Love” and have been a proud Texan for the past 10 years. It is my home and I loved it right away when I strolled into town; feeling welcomed by ASCE Dallas as the new kid (well, a 37 year old kid) on the block. The ASCE Texas Section is also a great organization, where I have served as Membership Chair and now Branch Relations Chair for the state.

This month we honor those who have and those who continue to serve in the armed forces, as Tuesday November 11, 2025 is Veterans Day. A day of reflection and thanks to those who protect our country, we take pride every year partnering to make it a Joint Meeting with the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) Dallas Post. We welcome this organization and their fantastic mission.

Through the hard work and volunteerism from those in our branch, Monday November 10th kicks off with a well-planned all-morning affair – AM Technical Sessions from 8:30am to 11:30am from professionals and knowledgeable leaders dedicating their time to present on innovative services and exciting projects local to the Dallas Branch. Monday we are joined by the Transportation & Development Institute (T&DI) and the Geotechnical Institute (GI) to lead a series of sessions worth PDH’s. Breakfast is available starting at 8am for those joining us sponsored by The Rios Group!

We then go into our incredible program. After some updates from the Branch, we hear from the mission of SAME, the Rios Group gives a presentation of their firm, then we get to know about LJA as this month’s generous Meeting Sponsor. Then the main presentation begins, Nadine Lee – CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is our esteemed Keynote Speaker and will provide an update on the agency’s successes and what is in store for the future.

I am backed by a great team of Board Members and Committee Chairs (and we still have a few open positions so feel free to reach out). I hope to bring leadership to the branch in the coming months, and a way I would like to do that is through attaining feedback from you. There is an email address that comes with the presidency, and I encourage you to reach out with thoughts on our events, our speakers, fresh ideas, what works, and what needs improvement. It will be me personally responding to each message, not AI. 😉

Kind regards,
Patrick Williams, P.E., LEED AP 
ASCE Dallas Branch | President 2025-2026
[email protected]