Le Val Lund Lecture & Symposium
REGISTRATION LINKS
Sponsorship (Email committee@ascemlab.org)​
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See you this year at USC for the Le Val Lund Lectures by Sunil Sinha, Ph.D., the most recent award recipient, and by Leon Kempner, Jr., who was the Lund awarded recipient in 2022 during Covid-19 and was unable to give a lecture while we were shut down.
The Le Val Lund Lecture & Symposium are annual events held at both California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and University of Southern California (USC) on a rotating basis, organized by the ASCE Infrastructure Resilience Division (IRD), ASCE Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch (MLAB), USC, and Caltech. The event intends to promote interaction between infrastructure professionals, community leaders, educational institutions, researchers, and students to further expand on infrastructure resiliency and community preparedness.
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Each year, the ASCE Infrastructure Resilience Division awards the Le Val Lund Practice Award for Lifeline Risk Reduction, which was established to honor the late Le Val Lund, Jr., PE, M.ASCE, who was a recognized expert on protecting urban lifeline infrastructure systems from natural and human-caused disasters. Le Val Lund served as a great contributor to the infrastructure community, working 42 years for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (LADWP), where he helped design, construct and operate many significant projects including the Second LA Aqueduct, dams, and filtration plants. With ASCE, Le Val Lund was one of the founders of the Metropolitan LA Branch (MLAB), and valued industry professionals working closely with academia to further develop future generations of infrastructure stewards and protect against threatening hazards.
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The 7th annual Le Val Lund Lecture & Symposium was last hosted on May 2, 2025, at the Caltech Athenaeum. The events consisted of an afternoon symposium filled with students, industry experts, and academia discussing technical topics related to Future Directions for Infrastructure System Resilience. Thereafter, the Dinner Lecture hosted distinguished guests and the annual dinner lecture by the 2024 ASCE Le Val Lund Practice Awardee, Ronald T. Eguchi. Photos
Dinner/Lecture
Southern California CEE Research Symposium (CEERS)
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Fri, May 1 | USC​
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We are delighted to invite participation in the 2026 Southern California Civil &
Environmental Engineering Research Symposium (SoCal CEERS) in coordination with
the annual Le Val Lund Student Symposium as a single, co-hosted event. This single,
co-hosted event is being organized by PhD students at USC in partnership with the
ASCE Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch (MLAB). This collaboration brings the
prestigious Le Val Lund Lecture and Student Symposium together with the student
research program, creating one comprehensive platform designed to bridge the gap
between academic research and industry practice for the broader Southern California
CEE community.
The event will take place on May 1, 2026, on USC’s University Park Campus. We
strongly encouraged doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students from ASCE
chapters across the region to submit abstracts for oral or poster presentations. In
addition to showcasing student research, the day will feature a professional
development workshop and will culminate with attendance at the 2026 Le Val Lund
Lectures. All students who participate in the symposium will also be invited to join
industry leaders and faculty for the dinner following the event.
Abstract submissions have closed.
You can find additional programming details on the SoCal CEERS website. For the latest updates on event information and faculty research highlights, please follow us on Instagram (@socalceers). We look forward to seeing your chapter represented at this exciting joint event.
Student Symposium
8th Le Val Lund Lecture on Lifeline Infrastructure and Community Resilience
Fri, May 1 | USC​
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Join ASCE Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch (MLAB), ASCE Infrastructure Resilience Division (IRD), California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and University of Southern California (USC) for the 8th Le Val Lund Lecture on Lifeline Infrastructure and Community Resilience in honor of Le Val Lund at the USC Town & Gown on Friday, May 1, 2026. The lecture will be preceded with an open bar reception and a plated meal dinner.​
About the event:
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Registration will open at 5:00 PM, followed by social time with open bar. This is followed by a plated dinner and the 2026 Le Val Lund Lecture(s). ​
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Dinner is included with registration and the choices are provided on the registration page. Please select your dinner option with ticket purchase.​
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Address: USC, 665 W Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90089​
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Leon Kempner
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Title: Electric Power Transmission Resilience Challenges of a Legacy Grid
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Bio
Leon Kempner Jr is the principal Civil (Structural) engineer for the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) USDOE. He is a registered Civil Engineer in Oregon and Washington States, USA. He obtained his PhD in System Science - Civil Engineering at Portland State University. Leon has been involved in the analysis, design, and research for transmission line facilities at BPA for over 50 years. He participates in several ASCE, IEEE, and CIGRE technical committees and standards. Leon has also participated in post-earthquake reconnaissance after the Japan (2011) and Chile (2010) subduction zone earthquakes.
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