WILLIAM E. ROPER, PH.D., P.E.

Highlights

• Director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers World-Wide Civil Works Research and Development Program
• Director of the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center (TEC)
  

Biography

Dr. Roper is a Professor with the College of Science at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He recently completed an assignment as the Director of the Environmental Services Department for Arlington County Virginia. As Director he was responsible for managing the county’s public works program, wastewater treatment operations, water distribution, engineering design and construction program, GIS and remote sensing, facilities and vehicle maintenance, capital projects, real estate program, transportation and environmental programs for the county. He also served as the county’s Chief Environmental Officer. He is the President and founder of Roper & Associates an engineering and environmental consulting firm in Virginia. Earlier Dr. Roper served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Prior to joining academia he was a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service and served as the Director of the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center (TEC) in Alexandria, VA. As the chief executive officer of TEC, Dr. Roper was responsible for the overall leadership and management of TEC's R&D programs for the Army, Department of Defense agencies, other Federal agencies and reimbursable customers. Dr. Roper has also served as the Director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers World-Wide Civil Works Research and Development Program which involved research program development and execution at seven major laboratories and five research centers located throughout the United States.

Dr. Roper's professional experience includes senior management positions in the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Army. He also served on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University, and North Carolina State University. Dr. Roper was recently appointed to the new National Academies Committee on the Protection of Critical Transportation Infrastructure and selected to chair the sub-committee on Technology Research, Development and deployment. 

He has also been active with the Water Science and Technology Board, the Infrastructure and Constructed Environment Board, and the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as the Society of American Military Engineers. He was a member of the National Oil Spill Research Committee, the National Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, Construction Industry Strategic Development Council, and the National Civil Engineering Research Council. He has authored more than 150 technical papers and delivered numerous presentations to national and international audiences.

Dr. Roper is a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service, the NW York Academy of Sciences and a registered professional engineer in Wisconsin. He received is PhD from Michigan State University in Environmental Engineering and his Masters and Bachelors degrees from the University of Wisconsin.  He is also a graduate of the Federal Executive Development Program, Federal Executive Institute, The Harvard Senior Managers in Government Program, Army Command and General Staff College, Air Force War College, and is a distinguished military graduate of the University of Wisconsin. He has held Adjunct Professor Appointments with the engineering graduate schools of Catholic University of America, George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University.

Bill has managed a number of international joint research programs including initiatives with the People's Republic of China, the former U.S.S.R., Canada, India, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Japan. Technical areas of cooperation range form large-scale estuary sediment movement field studies and water resource development, to earthquake engineering, cold region construction methods, and geospatial information management systems.