PULLMAN, Wash. — Leon D. Luck, professor emeritus of civil engineering at Washington State University, has received a WSU Alumni Achievement Award.
He was recognized Feb. 11 at a Pullman Rotary Club luncheon for 36 years devoted to teaching, research and administration at WSU. He chaired the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 1972-76, before retiring in 1983. He also spent a year as a visiting professor at the University of Leeds in England.
“He took a deep personal interest in his students who where were greatly influenced by his professional and academic standards, ethics and integrity,” said David McLean, current chair of civil and environmental engineering at WSU.
Luck came to Pullman from Spokane and earned a degree in civil engineering in 1943. He joined the WSU faculty in 1947 after three years in the Navy. For six years he managed Camp Welch, WSU’s civil engineering survey camp at White Pass and spent 13 summers on the teaching faculty there.
Luck initiated a videotaped graduate program for working professionals. He taught two of those courses that counted toward external master’s degrees for engineers in 10 public and investor-owned utilities and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He served as national director of the American Society of Civil Engineers and president of the Washington Society of Professional Engineers.
Luck was executive secretary of the WSU Senate for four years and spent five years on both the Pullman City Council and the Pullman Parks and Recreation Commission. The longtime member of the Pullman Rotary Club is also active in the WSU Retirees Association.
