Distinguished Engineer Citations

                 

Dale Cherry

Distinguished Engineer

2016

Degree

Civil Engineering – 1978

 

Citation

At Time of Nomination in 2016

Dale Cherry was born in Sulphur Springs, Texas where he graduated from high school in 1973. He received his BS in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University in 1978. While at Texas Tech he made life long friends as an active member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Upon graduation, Dale traveled Europe and the UK before joining Black & Veatch as a civil engineer. He progressed through various project management roles within the Civil-Environmental Division. In 1996, Dale was made Partner and in 1999 he was appointed vice president as the 85 year old partnership converted to a privately held corporation. He retired from Black & Veatch in 2013 as a corporate officer with more than 35 years of broad-based water experience building relationships and advising municipal clients, special water districts and river authorities throughout Texas.

His experience includes senior leadership success in business development, strategic planning, business strengthening, staff recruitment, development and retention. As a client director he was responsible for achieving client satisfaction by organizing and leading large environmental engineering teams and multidisciplinary professionals.

Notable projects under Mr. Cherry’s leadership include:

• Tarrant Regional Water District/City of Dallas Integrated Pipeline Project (IPL) – $2.3 billion project responsible for design and construction management assistance of assigned segments. The IPL will extend 150 miles from Lake Palestine to Lake Benbrook with connections to Cedar Creek and Richland-Chambers Reservoirs. It will deliver a combined 350 million gallons per day of raw water for the more than 5 million people living in the D/FW area.
• City of Midland Texas T Bar Well Field and Water Supply Project – $200 million fast track water supply project completed in 12 months using a design build delivery method. The project consists of a well field near the New Mexico border, tanks, pump stations and 65 miles of pipeline.
• North Texas Municipal Water District Wylie Texas Water Treatment Plant Ozone Addition - $150 million project holds the distinction for being the world’s largest ozonation installation providing safe drinking water to over 2 million people in the Dallas area.
• City of Lubbock Lake Alan Henry Water Supply Project – $250 million water supply project completed on schedule in 2012 as the largest capital project in the city’s history. Responsibilities included design of a new water treatment plant, finished water storage and high service pumping station.

Dale currently serves on the Texas Tech Whitacre College of Engineering Dean’s Council. He is past president of the Texas Tech Civil Environmental Engineering Advisory Council and was recognized into the Civil Environmental Engineering Academy in 1997. In 2005, he and his wife, Teddi (Texas Tech 1977) helped form the Rockwall Chapter of the Tech Alumni Association. To date this chapter has awarded over $200,000 in scholarships to graduating seniors attending Texas Tech University.

Dale is a registered professional engineer in Texas with certifications as trainer of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and the Birkman Method. He has worked with graduate students at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and is currently a Visiting Scholar at Colorado University School of Engineering at Boulder. Dale is a frequent speaker on Texas water issues to raise awareness of the state’s water needs.

In 2014, Dale was appointed to the Rockwall Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors where he chairs the planning committee. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Dallas Bethlehem Center in Dallas, TX and the President’s Advisory Council of the Texas Methodist Foundation in Austin, TX. He is past Lay Director in the Dallas Emmaus Community.

Dale’s hobbies include gardening, golf and fly-fishing. He is active in his local church serving in numerous leadership and teaching roles. He and Teddi have two married children; John Thomas Cherry (Texas Tech 2008) and Jordan Cherry Dodds and one granddaughter. The Cherrys live in Rockwall, Texas where they enjoy church, community, family and friends.

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