Ken Hover, American Concrete Institute (ACI) president

Kenneth C. Hover, Ph.D., P.E., is the new president of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), assuming the post of president of the Institute after the passing of ACI President Richard D. Stehly on Sept. 18, 2010.

In accordance with the bylaws of the Institute, in the event that a current president is no longer able to continue his term, the senior vice president will complete the term.

The ACI Executive Committee, along with ACI Executive Vice President Ron Burg, and ACI’s staff have expressed their support of Dr. Hover as president during this difficult time for the Institute.

“On behalf of the American Concrete Institute members and its staff, I would like to thank Kenneth Hover for graciously and humbly accepting the post of President of the Institute,” said Ron Burg, executive vice president of ACI, in a prepared written statement. “We are confident that Ken will continue Dick Stehly’s ambitious visions for ACI during this time of tremendous loss for the Institute and the entire concrete industry.”

Hover said that ACI “has lost one of its most enthusiastic leaders, a dedicated and gifted visionary, and most of all, a good friend. We can assure the Institute and the industry that our first priority is the continued pursuit of Dick’s presidential objectives.”

Hover is professor of civil and environmental engineering and Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.

An ACI member since 1980, Hover was elected vice president of the Institute in the spring of 2009. He currently chairs ACI Committee 301-C, Concrete Mixtures, Handling, Placing, Consolidating, and Curing, and also chairs ACI’s Task Group on Fly Ash Communication.

Hover currently serves on several other technical committees, including 318-A, Structural Concrete Building Code. He previously served on the ACI Board of Direction and was named a Fellow of ACI in 1992. In addition, he is a past president of the ACI Greater Miami Valley Chapter.

Hover started his career as a project engineer and project manager for Dugan and Meyers Construction Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was involved in construction of buildings, interstate bridges, and water treatment plants.

After serving as a Captain in the Army Corps of Engineers (15th Combat Engineer Battalion), he then joined the structural consulting firm of THP, Ltd., in Cincinnati, advancing to partner and manager with experience in project design, specifications writing, design team management, and contract administration.

He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Cincinnati and a PhD in structural engineering from Cornell University.

Hover came to Cornell with the assistance of a grant from the Exxon Foundation, designed to bring experienced engineers to the faculties of U.S. colleges of engineering, and he was among the first winners of an ACI scholarship.

He joined the faculty in 1984, where he teaches reinforced and prestressed concrete design, concrete materials, and construction management. His research focuses on the impact of construction operations and the construction environment on concrete quality.