Meet the 2009 Governing Board

David L. Kriebel, Ph.D., P.E., President

Kriebel is an Associate Professor of Ocean Engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, his Master of Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware and his Doctor of Philosophy, Engineering Science and Mechanics from the University of Florida. He currently teaches undergraduate courses at the Naval Academy. Kriebel was the recipient of the Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation 1991-1996. He is a registered professional engineer. Prior to his current position Kriebel was a Coastal/Hydraulic engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers. He also served as a research Engineer for the Coastal and Oceanographic Engineering Laboratory in Gainesville, Fla. He has been a part-time consultant in coastal and ocean engineering since 1984 with more than 25 clients and projects including: Developer of EDUNE numerical model and peer review of Beachfront Management Program for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control Zone Management Program to name a few.

James A. Blanchar, P.E., Past-President
Blanchar earned both his bachelors and master's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Louisville, Louisville, Ky. He is a licensed engineer in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Blanchar served 42 years of Federal service including three years active duty in the Civil Engineers Corps of the Navy. He retired from the Navy in 1990 with the rank of Captain Civil Engineer Corps. He also served as a civilian in the Army Corps of Engineers at a variety of locations and positions including: Area Engineer, Ohio Area; Area Engineer, USAED Baltimore; Liaison Officer, Delft, Holland, USAED Al Batin; Area Engineer, Taif, Saudi Arabia, USAED Riyadh; Chief Construction Division USAED Rock Island; Chief of Operations Division, USAED Rock Island. At his last position as Chief of Operations Division, Blanchar was responsible for the Operations and Maintenance of 12 Lock and Dam sites along the Mississippi River, eight Lock and Dam sites on the Illinois Waterway, three large flood control dams in Iowa and the District's 404 and Section 10 Permit Programs.

Ronald Noble, P.E., L.S., Vice President

During his more than 40 year career, Noble has completed projects in 35 countries as well as throughout the United States. For more than 20 years, he has served as president and principal engineer for Noble Consultants. Additionally, Noble has also served on the Coastal Engineering Research Council, which oversees the ICCE technical program, for more than 25 years. Throughout his career, he has contributed to four technical standards and guidelines, 24 technical papers, taught short courses and seminars on coastal engineering, and served as a third-party project reviewer for numerous state and local projects.

Noble’s key accomplishments include: developing the first comprehensive numerical computer model to calculate hurricane storm surge and calibrating that model with historical storms that have occurred along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts; using hydraulic models to test wave runup and overtopping with wave flumes; and using wave tanks to test wave defraction and reflection. Recently, he served as a member of a FEMA technical working group that developed a new Coastal Flood Hazard Analysis and Mapping Program for the Pacific Coast.

Stanley White, P.E., Member

Stan White, who begins his service to the Governing Board as Vice President, comes to the position after spending two years as chair of the Ports and Harbors Committee, serving as a pioneering member of COPRI, and 35 years of involvement with ASCE. White is currently the President of Ocean and Coastal Consultants, Inc, a firm specializing in port facilities, underwater investigations and coastal engineering, which he founded in 1983. OCC joined COWI A/S in 2007 and is part of COWI USA, Inc. for which White is also the President. He is active in the preparation of Ports Conference series as well as the Mooring Task Committee; has published numerous papers on port facility design; and is a guest lecturer at the US Coast Guard Academy for the fourth year Project Management course.  White is currently a licensed Civil Engineer in 14 states and has been a member of ASCE since 1973. 

Jennifer L. Irish, Ph.D, P.E., Secretary

Irish has been an assistant professor at Texas A&M University at College Station since August 2006. She received her Ph.D from the University of Delaware in 2005, and earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University. A registered professional engineer in New York, her research interests include coastal storm damage and risk, coastal wetland processes and coastal processes. She currently teaches fluid dynamics, an undergraduate ocean engineering laboratory, graduate coastal engineering and graduate estuary hydrodynamics. Her research has been published in 25 conference proceedings and nearly 20 journals. She has been invited to present her research at nine seminars or conferences. Prior to joining the Department of Civil Engineering, Irish served as a specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New York District from 2001-2006, She was a researcher at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory from 1994-2001. In 2008, she received the Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award. She received four other achievement awards from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 2004 to 2007, was the U.S. and an International winner of the 1997 PIANC Gustav Willems Award.

Lesley Ewing, P.E., ASCE Representative

Ewing is a Senior Coastal Engineer with the California Coastal Commission in San Francisco, she has been with the commission since 1988, where she has experience in technical advising, engineering studies, interagency coordination, training and public outreach and has worked with special projects such as the Commission Task Force examining beach erosion and response. She was the recipient of the 2004 Coastal Zone Management Award from the Coastal Zone Foundation, as well as the 2006 Unsung Hero Award from the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA).  Ewing is the Treasurer and Director of the Association of Coastal Engineers (ACE) and Director of ASBPA. She is also active in COPRI committees including past-chair of the Coastal Zone Management Committee, Solutions to Coastal Disasters 2005 and 2008 planning committees.  Ewing is the associate editor of the Shore & Beach Journal and has authored papers in numerous technical conference proceedings, presented short courses and served as co-editor for the Solutions to Coastal Disasters 2002 proceedings.  She has authored articles for the ASCE Journal of Waterway, Port, Coast and Ocean Engineering. She received her master’s in Coastal Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, master’s in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Brown University.  Ewing is a certified professional engineer in both Virginia and California.