The American Concrete Institute (ACI) introduced its 2012-2013 president, vice president, and four board members during the ACI Spring 2012 Convention in Dallas, Texas.

James K. Wight was elected to serve as president of the Institute for 2012-2013.  William E. Rushing Jr. has been elected ACI vice president for a two-year term, and Anne M. Ellis is now the Institute’s senior vice president, which is also a two-year term. Additionally, four members have been elected to serve on the ACI Board of Direction, each for three-year terms.

James K. Wight,FACI and FASCE, is the Frank E. Richart Jr. Collegiate Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. He has been a Professor in the structural engineering area of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department since September 1973, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate classes on structural analysis and design of reinforced concrete structures. Wight received his BS and MS in civil engineering from Michigan State University in 1969 and 1970, and his PhD from the University of Illinois in 1973.

Wight is known for his work in earthquake-resistant design of concrete structures. His more recent research has concentrated on the strength and inelastic behavior of connections in composite structures (reinforced concrete and steel) and the use of high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete composites for earthquake-resistant design of critical members in concrete structures. He has been involved with post-earthquake damage studies following earthquakes in Mexico, Chile, Armenia, Egypt, California, Japan, and India.

William E. Rushing Jr.,FACI, is a Vice President with Waldemar S. Nelson & Co., Inc., New Orleans, LA. He chairs the ACI Financial Advisory Committee and is a member of the Task Group on Strategic Plan Review and ACI Committees 314, Simplified Design of Concrete Buildings; 351, Foundations for Equipment and Machinery; 376, Concrete Structures for Refrigerated Liquefied Gas Containment; E702, Designing Concrete Structures; S801, Student Activities; and a Director for Creative Association Management (CAM). In addition, he serves on Subcommittees 314-B, Preliminary Design and Economic Impact; 314-D, Design Aids; and the 314 Task Group to Update IPS-1.

Rushing previously served on the ACI Board of Direction and is a past Chair of the Convention Committee and a past member of the Educational Activities Committee. He received the Henry L. Kennedy Award in 2011 “in recognition of his outstanding service to the Institute and his leadership of many educational and administrative committees.” He received the Chapter Activities Award in 2003.

Roger J. Beckeris the Managing Director of Research and Development for the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI), Chicago, IL. Prior to joining PCI, he worked for 26 years as a Consulting Structural Engineer specializing in design and research in precast concrete. He then joined The Spancrete Group, a multi-division, multi-plant precast concrete producer where he worked for 11 years in various capacities. He is a Fellow of ACI and PCI.

Becker is active in professional societies in addition to PCI. He is a member of ACI Committees 301, Specifications for Concrete; 318, Structural Concrete Building Code; ACI Subcommittees 301-F, Precast Concrete Panels; 318-C, Safety, Serviceability, and Analysis; 318-G, Precast and Prestressed Concrete; Joint ACI-ASCE Committee 423, Prestressed Concrete; the Concrete Research Council; and the Technology Management Committee of the ACI Strategic Development Council. He is also a member of the Structural Design for Fire Conditions Standards Committee at ASCE.

Jeffrey W. Coleman,FACI, is both a licensed professional engineer and an Attorney at Law and Principal Partner in the law firm of Coleman, Hull & van Vliet, PLLP, Minneapolis, MN. He has been an ACI member for over 30 years. He is the author of Legal Issues in Concrete Construction, published by ACI in 2004, and previously authored the “Concrete Legal Notes” section of Concrete International.

Coleman is Chair of ACI Committee 132, Responsibility in Concrete Construction. He is a member of the Construction Liaison Committee, Financial Advisory Committee, TAC Construction Standards Committee, and ACI Committee 563, Specifications for Repair of Structural Concrete in Buildings. He previously served as a member of ACI Committee 301, Specifications for Concrete.

Robert J. Frosch,FACI, is a Professor of civil engineering at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. He received his BSE from Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, in 1991 and his MSE and PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in 1992 and 1996, respectively. He is active in both research and teaching specializing in structural engineering. He is a licensed professional engineer in Indiana and Louisiana. He is also a member of PCI, ASCE, and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Frosch is actively involved in technical committee work. He serves as Chair of ACI Subcommittee 318-D, Flexure and Axial Loads: Beams, Slabs, and Columns, and is a past Chair and member of ACI Committee 224, Cracking. He serves on ACI Committee 318, Structural Concrete Building Code; ACI Subcommittees 318-SC, 318 Steering Committee; 318 Task Group R-Reinforcement; and 318-WA, International Workshop-Structural Concrete in the Americas; Joint ACI-ASCE Committees 408, Bond and Development of Reinforcement, and 445, Shear and Torsion; ACI Faculty Network; Financial Advisory Committee; Membership Committee; and Publications Committee. He is also active with PCI, where he serves as a member of the Technical Activities Council and the Research and Development Council.

Steven H. Kosmatka,FACI, is Vice President of Research and Technical Services at the Portland Cement Association (PCA), Skokie, IL. Previously, he was Managing Director of the same group (2000-2003). Kosmatka also served as Director of Construction Information Services (1996-1999) and Manager of Research and Development (1992-1995). He joined PCA in 1984 as a Concrete Engineer. Prior to that, he was in charge of the cement, concrete, and petrography laboratories for Twin City Testing Corporation, St. Paul, MN.

His current responsibilities include oversight of product standards, cement and concrete technology, concrete knowledge, library and technical services, and cement manufacturing. He also oversees the PCA Education Foundation’s fellowship research program and PCA’s core research, including research projects on buildings, cement technology, concrete technology, sustainability, pavements, bridges, cement manufacture, safety, and environmental technology.