District chief named top civil engineer

By Joe Barison
District Public Affairs Office

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 20, 2010-Thanks in part to a book he read in junior high school, Planning Branch Chief Tom Kendall received the American Society of Civil Engineers 2009 Government Civil Engineer of the Year Award. The book was Waves and Beaches, and it ignited what would become the teenager’s lifelong interest in the dynamic interaction between ocean and shore – the essence of coastal engineering.

Entering the University of California at Berkeley, Kendall’s interest was in journalism. But when he sat in on a journalism career workshop, he heard working reporters give the college undergrads a wake-up call. Newspaper writers could count on earning five dollars an hour for years to come, a difficult wage for supporting a family even 30 years ago.

Kendall, looking to balance his career interests with practicality, searched the academic landscape for a compelling field that would also allow

Tom Kendall, right, recipient of the 2009 Government Civil Engineer of the Year Award, stands with his mother, Angela Kendall, and D. Wayne Klotz, former ASCE president. (Photo by David Hathcox, ASCE)

a young man a decent wage. He began to consider law school until he read UC Berkeley’s catalogue about the coastal engineering program. “The description reminded me of the book Waves and Beaches that I read in junior high school. I realized that here, in the coastal engineering program, is where the Waves and Beaches stories took place,” Kendall said.

A career was born, and Kendall majored in civil engineering with an emphasis on coastal engineering. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree with honors, in 1980, he went on to earn a UC Berkeley Master of Engineering degree with honors, in 1982. Two years later, Kendall joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, San Francisco District, as a coastal engineer. In the ensuing 25 years, he has held increasingly responsible positions with the district, including his current position as chief of the Planning Branch in the Engineering and Technical Services Division.

In 2008, Kendall was nominated for the Government Civil Engineer of the Year Award. His nominator was Orville Magoon, with whom Kendall worked and who retired from a Corps career as a coastal engineer. Magoon is honored on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ South Pacific Division’s Wall of Distinguished Employees.

Magoon nominated Kendall for an array of professional accomplishments such as co-authoring an academic paper titled “High Resolution Analysis of the 1960 Chilean Tsunami at Crescent City, California” as well as a paper on the armoring of coastal structures; serving on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Planning Committee on Sea-Level Rise Policy; volunteering at an Engineering Explorers Post at which Kendall mentored high-school students interested in engineering careers; contributing professional services to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Coastal, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute; and serving in the Corps as a lead district planner in support of a myriad of environmental projects.

As Magoon wrote in his official nomination paper, “Thomas Kendall has demonstrated the highest professional standards in design … of complex engineering projects. Mr. Kendall has been consistently involved in civic and humanitarian work throughout his career, demonstrated by his work as a local prison ministry volunteer, as well as Sunday school teacher and music ministry leader in his local church …. Mr. Kendall managed the largest study program in the San Francisco District…to investigate navigation, ecosystem restoration and flood damage reduction improvement for the San Francisco Bay Area.”

In October, Kendall traveled to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ ceremony in Reston, Va., where he received his award.
He is quick to acknowledge those who have given him special opportunities. “Roger Butler and Terry Mendoza worked with me at the Engineering Explorer Post. Terry was key to getting it started 20-some years ago, and Roger was invaluable in its final years,” said Kendall. “I am also very appreciative of Jim Howells, my assistant Planning Branch chief, who holds down the fort while I’m off giving talks or participating in some regional or national initiative. I just couldn’t do what I do without the solid support of Jim and the other section chiefs, Fari [Tabatabai], Laurie [Suda] and Mark [Bierman].”

But life is not all work for the Planning Branch’s chief. When he’s not leading the district’s environmental planning, teaching classes or volunteering, he relaxes by surfing or playing guitar, alone and in jam sessions with friends.

What’s next for this community-oriented professional? Asked about his goals, Kendall thought for a moment then said, “Keeping doing what I’m doing. I like what I do.”