Forum on Project Leadership: Speakers

Jeffrey S. Russell
Professor and Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin

Topic: “Leading with Heart: Using a University Setting to Help Develop Level 5 Leaders”
Abstract: We are bombarded with daily news of yet another high level leader's incompetence and dishonesty all while accepting compensation that is unknown to the vast majority of us. This phenomenon has to have an impact, not always positive, on our students, the future leaders of the engineering and construction industries. In Jim Collins now famous research project and subsequent book, “Good to Great” his team unexpectedly found something they later termed Level 5 Leadership. This definition includes traits that, because of their very nature are not easily recognized or publicized such as humility and a penchant to put the needs of their organizations ahead of their own. This is a story about one public university's attempt to provide lasting positive impact to student's with a desire to lead. While our research is incomplete we are finding some positive results and leads to an opportunity to rethinking leadership. The presentation will focus on the following: 1. non-standard view of leadership, 2. a description of how and why Level 5 leaders lead the way they do, and 3. examples of formal education experiences that assist in developing Level 5 leaders.

Bio: Dr. Russell is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin. In the last 20 years, he has advised over 100 graduate students including 26 Ph.D. students. He has published over 200 technical papers in the areas of contractor failure, prequalification, surety bonds, constructability, automation, maintainability, warranties, and quality control/quality assurance. He has published two books—Constructor Prequalification (1996) and Surety Bonds for Construction Contracts (2000)—and is currently under contract to complete a third book in the area of design for constructability and maintainability. His research has been recognized by his peers through his selection for over 14 national and regional awards and 6 best paper awards. Russell served as editor-in-chief of the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering (1995-2000) and as founding editor-in-chief of the ASCE publication Leadership and Management in Engineering (2000-2003). He is presently Chair of the ASCE Committee on Academic Prerequisites for Professional Practice. The Committee is charged with defining the future education requirements necessary to practice civil engineering at the professional level.