2025 Monismith Lecture: Claudia Zapata

Claudia Zapata of Arizona State University will deliver the 2025 Carl Monismith Lecture on June 10, 2025.

The ASCE Geo-Institute (G-I) has established a Lecture in recognition of Professor Carl L. Monismith's contribution to Pavement Engineering. Professor Monismith's teaching and research career in pavement technology, at the University of California, Berkeley, spans more than 50 years. Throughout this period, he has mentored numerous graduate students who have disseminated advances in pavement technology around the world.

The C. L. Monismith Lecture will be awarded annually for outstanding research contributions in Pavement Engineering.

Dr. Zapata is the author of more than 90 technical publications related to research on the behavior of unsaturated soils, characterization of expansive soils, thermo-hydro-mechanical behavior of soils under static and repeated loads, empirical modeling of fluid flow and soil volume change applied to pavement structures and residential foundation systems; environmental effects on soil behavior; and soil improvement induced by microbes and biological enzymes, as well as geotextiles.

Career highlights include her active participation in the development of the most recent Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide in the United States; the development of models to incorporate environmental effects and problematic soil behavior into current pavement design practices; and the creation of a database containing properties of over 35,000 unsaturated soils across the United States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Dr. Zapata has received numerous awards, including the Victoria Foundation Award 2021, honoring Latino faculty working to increase the participation of underrepresented populations in engineering; and the Community Service Award 2011 for her significant contributions to advancing pavement and materials programs and technology in Arizona, presented at the ASU Pavement Materials Conference and the Arizona Department of Transportation.

To learn more about the Monismith Award and Lecture, visit https://www.asce.org/career-growth/awards-and-honors/carl-l-monismith-lecture-on-pavement-engineering.

Want to learn more about the Geo-Institute? We're a technical society with about 12,000 members - mostly geotechnical engineers and geologists. Visit geoinstitute.org to get to know us!

Check out the 2024 Monismith Lecture, delivered by Soheil Nazarian of the University of Texas at El Paso!