CEE Endowed Professor Named Julian Hinds Award Honoree

Dr. Barbara Minsker, Bobby B. Lyle Endowed Professor of Leadership and Global Entrepreneurship, has spent her decades-long career researching what matters – and teaching her students how to do the same – at the intersection of water resources, urban infrastructure, and emerging technology.

This year, her impact was recognized with the highest honors in her field – being named a Fellow with the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and receiving their time-honored Julian Hinds Award – recognitions that speak not only to her research accomplishments, but to a career committed to making a difference.

But the path that led her to these honors spans decades, beginning with the first moment she decided to pursue civil and environmental engineering. Dr. Minsker got her start as an operations research and industrial engineering major at Cornell University, led by dreams of building something that mattered. During a senior-year visit to a Procter & Gamble paper plant in Green Bay – staring into the depths of the factory, and the future it promised, as sheets of toilet paper spun around her – she realized then that she could be more than a cog in an engineering machine. She could drive the change she wanted to see from the ground up.

“I just looked up and thought to myself: ‘My God, there’s got to be something more meaningful I can do than help this giant corporation make toilet paper better,’” Dr. Minsker recalled, laughing. “And that’s where it started.”

The next semester, she took a course in environmental systems analysis with Professor Christine Shoemaker, who became a role model, a mentor, and eventually, a doctoral advisor. For Dr. Minsker, wide-eyed for ways to build a better world, their meeting felt like kismet.

After a few years consulting for the Environmental Protection Agency, she returned to her alma mater – this time, going for her master's in environmental engineering with Professor Shoemaker as her advisor. Together, they began research in ground remediation and systems analysis, which later expanded into a PhD and faculty career.

Their meeting would come full circle this year when Dr. Minsker got the call that she would be the second woman to hold the title since the Julian Hinds award was first announced in 1974. The first – Dr. Shoemaker herself. The honor, reserved for innovators who have made great strides in advancing water resource engineering, is among the highest in the discipline.

Today, Dr. Minsker has been with SMU Lyle for a decade and has been teaching for three, devoting much of her research career to investigating urban infrastructure and water resources through the lens of emerging technology. An early-adopter turned expert in what we now call AI, her widely acclaimed research – from mapping infrastructural deserts in low-income neighborhoods to improving access to civic information with generative artificial intelligence – has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Offices of Army and Naval Research, the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, and several corporations.

“Much of my work is on the boundaries between computer science and civil and environmental engineering,” Dr. Minsker explained. “It’s about applying emerging technologies to environmental water resources and infrastructural problems."

To her, this time-honored recognition is not just recognition of her experience, but of the communities and lives her work has touched, who stand as the purpose behind her work.

“I’ve always strived to look at problems that really needed to be looked at – compelling societal problems – and combine that with leading-edge technology,” Dr. Minsker explained. “I never wanted my research to sit on a shelf; I wanted it to be used, to have purpose.”

But the most rewarding part, she says, is lifting others, creating a community of learning and growth that thrives on shared success, from mentor to student. Dr. Shoemaker may have been the first to hold the title, but Dr. Minsker has committed herself to continuing the legacy of opportunity that had first been extended to her. She may be the second woman, but she will make sure she is not the last.

“We have to support each other,” Dr. Minsker emphasized. “My former PhD student was the one to put the nomination package together. Now, it’s my turn to nominate her when the time comes.”

Four generations of women in engineering, from doctoral advisor to student. (from left: Professor Christine Shoemaker (Cornell University, emeritus), Professor Barbara Minsker (SMU Lyle), Professor Meghna Babbar-Sebens (Oregon State), and Dr. Debora Piemonti (Jacobs Inc.))

Of the many hats she wears, her favorite has been that of a teacher, remembering when she was once in her students’ shoes, wondering how to make sense of the expanse of opportunities before them and channel their experiences to a career built on helping others. Lyle has always been more than a teaching position to her – it’s home. She’s made it her purpose to help students find home here, too.

“I used to feel like a square peg in a round hole when I was teaching before,” Dr. Minsker remembered. “That’s why I came to Lyle, because the whole person mattered, not just their technical achievements. Small class sizes, giving individual attention to students, and the dedication of everyone in the department – undergraduate experience really matters when we can be serious about our teaching.”

From CEE Department Chair to Endowed Professor of Leadership and Global Entrepreneurship, Dr. Minsker brings a mindset of mentorship to everything she does, empowering others in the same way Dr. Shoemaker first encouraged her.

“Now, I’m really turning towards supporting other people to be leaders,” Dr. Minsker explained. “I teach an undergraduate and a graduate course in leadership. My students are the highlight – watching them learn and grow into some terrific engineers and leaders.”

“I am both honored and humbled to be recognized,” she emphasized.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Barbara Minsker on being named an ASCE Fellow and a Julian Hinds Award honoree, adding her name to a short and prestigious list of innovators in the field of water resources management. Her accomplishments and accolades represent a career built by serving the communities who need it most and a commitment to touching the lives of each and every student that walks through her classroom.

About the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering

SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering thrives on innovation that transcends traditional boundaries. We strongly believe in the power of externally funded, industry-supported research to drive progress and provide exceptional students with valuable industry insights. Our mission is to lead the way in digital transformation within engineering education, all while ensuring that every student graduates as a confident leader. Founded in 1925, SMU Lyle is one of the oldest engineering schools in the Southwest, offering undergraduate and graduate programs, including master’s and doctoral degrees.

About SMU

SMU is a nationally ranked global research university in the dynamic city of Dallas. SMU’s alumni, faculty, and nearly 12,000 students in eight degree-granting schools demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit as they lead change in their professions, community, and the world.