Susan L. Tighe, Ph.D.

Canada

Professor Susan Tighe currently holds an Endowed Chair in Sustainable Pavement Engineering, is a founding member of the Centre for Pavement and Transportation Technology (CPATT) at the University of Waterloo. Prior to assuming the Director role which she has held since September 2010, she served as the CPATT Associate Director of Research and Technology from 2005 to 2010. She is a past Canada Research Chair in Pavement and Infrastructure Management.

She is a member of the inaugural class of the New College of Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada and was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 for her leadership and vision with respect to the Canadian Transportation Community. She has also received the prestigious Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) and Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), Research & Development Medal, the Transportation of Canada Academic Merit Award, Inaugural Bleeds Black Award from the Ontario Hot Mix Producers Association and Inaugural Region of Waterloo Top 40 Under 40.

She has been involved with projects in Africa, India, Chile, India, China, Australia, New Zealand and throughout North America. Dr. Tighe worked for the Ministry of Transportation Ontario prior to pursuing a career in academia. During sabbaticals she has spent time in Australia working for a contractor, and has also received academic Fellowships including the Erskine Fellowship at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, the U.K. Royal Academy of Engineering at the University of Nottingham in England and the Queensland Pavement Center located at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia.

Dr. Susan Tighe, PhD, PEng, FCAE, FCSCE, FEIC, C.Dir., is Provost and Vice-President (Academic) and professor of civil engineering at McMaster University. She was appointed in July 2020.

Dr. Tighe continues to be an active researcher and has gained national and international recognition for her outstanding contributions to the development, design, and management of sustainable concrete and asphalt transportation infrastructure. Her reputation as a scholar, educator, and professional engineer is well illustrated by the breadth of her technical publications in pavements and infrastructure and involvement in several national and international research projects in Canada, Africa, Chile, India, China, Australia, New Zealand and throughout North America. She led the development of the 2013 Pavement Asset Design and Management Guide for the Transportation Association of Canada and is author of more than 400 technical publications.