WilliamO’Brien

Bio
William O’Brien is a professor and associate chair for architectural engineering in the Fariborz Maseeh Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in civil engineering and an M.S. in engineering-economic systems from Stanford University. He also earned a B.S. in civil engineering from Columbia University. He currently holds the Phil M. Ferguson Centennial Teaching Fellowship within the Cockrell School of Engineering at UT Austin.

Prior to returning to academia, he was the first employee of Collaborative Structures, a venture capital-backed internet startup. O’Brien is active in service to the profession and the community and has held several leadership positions, including serving as editor for the journal Advanced Engineering Informatics, interim director of Fiatech and chair of the executive committee of the Computing Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers. As a researcher and educator, he has led the evaluation and implementation of complex systems for construction.

He is particularly noted for his contributions to the practice of advanced work packaging and supply chain management. He has received numerous awards, including the Richard L. Tucker Leadership and Service Award from the Construction Industry Institute in 2018.

Educational Qualifications
Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1998
M.S., Engineering-Economic Systems, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1994
M.S., Civil Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1992
B.S., Civil Engineering, Columbia University, New York, New York, 1991

Select Awards & Honors

• National Academy of Construction member 
• Computing in Civil Engineering Award – ASCE (2021) 
• Richard L. Tucker Leadership and Service Award – Construction Industry Institute (2018) 

Related Websites
Modeling, Visualization, and Evaluation (MOVE) Lab
Center for Transportation Research

Select Publications