On a person’s birthday, they can usually expect to receive gifts. This year, an LSU Professor received a birthday gift she won’t soon forget.
CETF Distinguished Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Construction Management in the College of Engineering and Director of the Transportation Consortium of South Central States (Tran-SET) Marwa Hassan received the Jacobs Professor of Excellence Award at the LSU-Tennessee Women’s Basketball game on Jan. 29.
The award is given annually to an LSU professor who shows excellence and dedication to the construction profession. Professors do not apply for the award, but are nominated. The selection committee is made up of people from the Jacobs Engineering Group as well as LSU faculty and staff.
“It was a nice surprise, pretty much, because they gave me the award on my birthday,” Hassan said. “It was in the middle of a women’s basketball game. In the intermission, we walked in, and we were on the screens, it was kind of fun. I had my kids there and everything.”
Hassan said she was particularly honored to receive an award sponsored by Jacobs.
“Jacobs is a multinational company that does all kinds of work that relate to engineering,” Hassan said. “They have a strong presence in many states. They are one of the most excellent companies in engineering.”
Hassan believes she received the award based on her focus on implementation in her research.
“What we have been doing here is a little bit different,” Hassan said. “Instead of just working within the economic boundaries, we have gone beyond the economic boundary to actually make a difference. LSU and many other universities do a lot of research but, unfortunately, the biggest problem with research is that it does not breach all the way to implementation, so you don’t see it taking place except after decades and decades of work.”
Hassan decided she wanted to run things differently in her research. She decided to focus more on getting to the implementation stage in order to actually make a difference with her research.
“What we have been trying to do here is treat our department as a company, where we are focused on the bottom line and how to enhance the innovation and economic development of the state,” Hassan said. “We have been looking and formulating different strategic partnerships, whether these strategic partnerships are within the University or within other universities in the region, but more importantly with industry as well as government agencies.”
Hassan serves as the director of Tran-SET, a partnership of universities lead by LSU with the goal of addressing regional transportation needs. The partnership involves nine universities and two community colleges and has partnered with Departments of Transportation in six different states.
“We are working with companies that are interested in the outcomes of what we are doing, like construction companies that deal with transportation projects,” Hassan said. “This integration is allowing us to not just do research, but to actually take it to the next level where implementation is so important.”

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Sophie Granzow

LSU construction management graduate coordinator Marwa Hassan, Ph.D., discusses having received the Professor of Excellence award at an interview in Patrick F. Taylor Hall on LSU campus on Monday, March 5, 2018.