Richard Reardon, retired Chief of Engineering/Planning and Distinguished Civilian Gallery Member, received the Academy of Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.  The induction recognizes the outstanding contribution he made to the engineering profession as judged by the Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Council and reviewed by current civil and engineering faculty, according to the event program.

An inaugural banquet took place at the Amherst campus on Sept. 23.  Reardon graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering.  UMASS Amherst faculty member Don DeGroot announced Reardon’s name at the banquet.  “Mr. Reardon spent his professional career working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with projects on disaster relief, flood control, navigation and hydroelectric power services,” he said.

This is not the first honor the college has presented Reardon.  According to DeGroot, the College of Engineering honored Reardon as Alumnus of the Year in 1993.   Reardon was inducted into the New England District Distinguished Civilian Gallery on June 11, 2000.  He retired in April 1998 with more than 30 years of service.  He joined the District in 1958 as a trainee following graduation from UMASS, Amherst.  Over the years his responsibilities included serving as Chief, Program Development Office, Special Assistant to the Division Chief and the Manager for the Dickey-Lincoln School Lake Project.  He became Assistant Chief, Engineering Division in 1980 and was Chief from 1984 until his retirement in 1998.  Mr. Reardon embodies those qualities that are the hallmark of the Corps of Engineers:  integrity, professionalism and caring.