Deborah Goodings

Deborah Goodings is a professor emerita and at the College of Engineering and Computing. Her previous appointments included: Director of the Civil, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Innovation Division at the US National Science Foundation; Dewberry chaired professor and chair of the Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering; professor of civil engineering at the University of Maryland; and geotechnical engineer at Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton Engineers and Architects in New York City.

In addition to her research and teaching at the University of Maryland, she co-founded and co-directed the UMD Master of Engineering and Public Policy Program. In addition, she established one of the earliest and most active student chapters of Engineers Without Borders-USA, which completed ten international infrastructure projects under her guidance with full integration of engineering and non-engineering students. In recognition of her Engineers Without Borders-USA leadership, a gift was made to the university to endow the Deborah J. Goodings Professorship in Engineering for Global Sustainability.

Goodings’ experience and expertise have led to her service to the U.S. National Academies and National Research Council, as well as to institutional visiting and review committees both in the United States and Canada, including those for McMaster University and the University of British Columbia. She was elected as a By-Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University, in 1996. Her career accomplishments have been recognized with awards from the U.S. Department of the Army; the U.S. National Research Council; the U.S. Universities Council on Geotechnical Engineering Research; Professional Engineers Ontario; and the University of Maryland.

Deborah J. Goodings is a professor of geotechnical engineering. She joined the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computing at George Mason University in 2009 as the Dewberry Professor and chair of the Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering Department. At her prior appointment at the University of Maryland, Goodings launched and co-directed, with the School of Public Policy, the Master of Engineering and Public Policy program. 

Her career accomplishments have been recognized with awards from the Department of the Army (Outstanding Civilian Service Medal), the National Research Council’s Transportation Research Board (Fred Burggraf Award; and Emerita Member status), the U.S. Universities Council on Geotechnical Engineering Research (Distinguished Service Award), Professional Engineers Ontario (the Engineering Medal for Engineering Excellence), and the University of Maryland. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers; a Diplomate, in Geotechnical Engineering, a registered professional engineer in Ontario, and a By-Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge University.

Degrees

• PhD, Geotechnical Engineering, Cambridge University
• BS, Civil Engineering, University of Toronto

Research Interest

Geotechnical Engineering

Research

2006 - 2017: GMUF090210 Civil & INFRASTRUCTURE Engineering. Funded by George Mason University Foundation.

2015 - 2016: IPA. Funded by the National Science Foundation.