16
Geotechnical News December 2010
CGS News
ning icebreaker, through the Awards
Gala, to the local colour night at the
Calgary Tower and the closing lun-
cheon. Western hospitality was preva-
lent throughout the events.
We would like to express thanks to
Conference Chair Charles Kwok and
all members of the organizing commit-
tee for an entertaining, informative and
successful conference. We wish to also
recognize our conference sponsors for
their generosity: Platinum - ConeTec,
Rapid Impact Piers, Geo-Slope Inter-
national, Reinforced Earth, BGC En-
gineering, Golder Associates, MEG
Consulting, Stantec, Coffey Geotech-
nics, AMEC, Thurber Engineering;
Gold - Almita, Klohn Crippen Berger,
Nilex, Norwest Corporation; Silver -
EBA Engineering, Geotech Drilling,
North American Construction Group,
WorleyParsons; Bronze - Hayward
Baker, LVM, O’Connor Associates and
Syncrude.
2010 Legget Medal Award
Introduction for 2010 Legget Medal
Recipient: Dr. Dennis Becker
Introduction by: Jack Crooks, Golder Associates Ltd.
Mr. President, honoured guests, ladies
and gentlemen.
I can not express how delighted I
am to have the opportunity to introduce
this year’s Legget Medal winner, Den-
nis Becker. Dennis has been a friend
and colleague since he joined Golder
in eastern Canada in the mid 1970s
after finishing his bachelor’s program.
At that time, we worked together on a
major landslide project in 1975 in Que-
bec; this slope failure actually made
the front page of the Globe and Mail!!
I think it may have been the numbing
experience of drilling so many deep
boreholes through hard glacial deposits
that drove Dennis back to do a doctoral
program on soft clay at Western. When
I moved to Golder’s Calgary office in
1982, I was delighted to meet up with
Dennis again; we are still working here
together and as always, it is a pleasure.
Dennis has had a very successful
career. Many of you are aware of the
major contributions he has made to
geotechnical engineering as a whole
and also to this society: his presidency
of this society, editor of the Canadian
Geotechnical Journal, a participant in
many significant technical committees,
a large portfolio of technical papers…..
the list goes on.
While all of these contributions are
truly appreciated, I would like to focus
on two of Dennis’ other contributions
to our profession firstly by inspiring the
young people who join our profession
and secondly in the philosophy that he
brings to his project work.
Dennis is not a “lone wolf” practi-
cioner. He works on projects that typi-
cally require the support of many others
including both professional and ad-
ministrative staff. He is a natural team
builder with a very positive approach
to his work. He inspires younger pro-
fessionals to have and to achieve their
dreams. As the result of Dennis’ efforts
there are a large number of young pro-
fessionals who are working with us in
Canada and are members of this so-
ciety. His enthusiasm for his work is
infectious.
It would be simply impos-
sible for him to work in a profession
that he did not enjoy. This enthusiasm
transmits itself to others in a very in-
tense way…..the mark of a real leader.
Dennis’ attention to quality in his
work is legendary. His client roster is
mainly populated by repeat clients –
they know that if Dennis is involved
in their work, it will receive detailed
attention from a very competent indi-
vidual. As a co-author with Dennis on
some of his many technical publica-
tions, I am acutely aware of his drive
for quality in what he publishes….
there are no short cuts in his work.
So without further ado, please join
me in welcoming this year’s Legget
Medal winner – Dennis Becker!!!
Legget Medal Award, 2010
Acceptance by Dennis Becker
It is indeed a great honour and privilege
to receive this special award of
recognition from the CGS. This award
means a lot to me, and the fact that I’m
receiving it in Calgary in the presence
of some members of my family, and in
front of many of my CGS friends and
colleagues is a bonus. I was fortunate
enough to attend an awards ceremony
earlier this year during which one of
the well deserved recipients said “this
is great – it feels good to get an award”.
He is so right – it indeed feels good.
I extend special thanks to my nomi-
nators and supporters for taking pre-
cious time from their busy schedule
and life to prepare the nomination doc-
uments. It is a great pleasure in seeing
most of them here to today. Thank you
so much. I also thank the CGS Awards
Selection Committee for considering
me worthy of this recognition.
The CGS, through its members, has
been very good to me. I truly can say
