Dennis Kamber was the founder and president of Kamber Engineering, Inc., a multi-faceted civil and environmental engineering firm, in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and West Virginia. After 19 years of successful project development, the company was sold to Chester Engineers, a publicly-traded company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa. In the mid 1990s, he accepted a leadership position with Earth Tech, Inc., where he directed the Water and Wastewater Engineering Practice in North America. Under his leadership, the company achieved the No. 1 ranking in Engineering News Record as the Top Designer in both wastewater treatment, and water supply and treatment. Mr. Kamber currently serves as senior vice president and director of the Water Resources Practice for ARCADIC, a top ten global engineering firm with international headquarters in the Netherlands.



Throughout his professional career, Mr. Kamber has exemplified vision and leadership in the engineering community. Peers assert that his creativity and essential grasp of future trends, an effective strategy to project approach, and ability to position appropriate resources has been the key to his successful execution on complex projects. He has had major responsibilities in numerous civil engineering infrastructure projects throughout North America including the construction management of the $3.5 billion Boston Harbor, Deer Island wastewater facilities; multi-year operational management of the City of Chicago, Department of Water’s $200 million per year capital program; principal civil engineer for the MCI Sports Arena design/build team; and hydrologic and hydraulic analysis for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. He is currently involved in a 9-mile sewage storage and conveyance tunnel in Detroit and in state-of-the-art levee design in New Orleans.The Water Environment Federation recognized Mr. Kamber with its George Schroepfer Medal for excellence in wastewater facilities design, and the Chesapeake Water Environment Federation presented its Leonard Glass Award to him. He and his team received the Construction Management Association’s Project of the Year Award for the work being done at Deer Island. Additionally, he received the National Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies for his innovative design on sequenced batch treatment.



Mr. Kamber’s professional and community service activities have included serving as president of the Consulting Engineers Council of Metropolitan Washington, DC. During his term, he initiated the “SEE” program (Students Engaged in Engineering) that was focused on exposing middle school, intercity students to the practice of engineering. The program has subsequently been adopted in several other states. He also served for several years on the Council’s Board of Directors. Mr. Kamber served in various leadership roles in the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), including a seven-year chairmanship of the Engineering Excellence Committee that conducts an annual national competition to recognize top global engineering projects. He has also chaired ACEC’s Public Relations Committee and the Education and Registration Committee. In addition, Mr. Kamber chaired the Citizen’s Advisory Board for the Salvation Army of Montgomery County, Md. and led its campaign to raise over $2 million in donations for funding a new facility. Mr. Kamber was elected as a Fellow of the ACEC and is a life-member of ASCE. He is a registered professional engineer in several states and earned diplomate status with the American Academy of Environmental Engineers where he also serves as an oral examiner. Additionally, he is an active member of the Water Environment Federation, Society of American Military Engineers, and American Water Works Association.Mr. Kamber earned his BS in civil engineering in 1964 at Virginia Tech. He was a member of the Corps of Cadets and participated in the Freshman Rifle Team and Track Team. He joined Alpha Phi Omega national service fraternity and Sigma Lambda social fraternity. He and his wife Sherry have a son, Adam, who earned his BS in management science and information technology at Virginia Tech in 2000.



For eight years, Mr. Kamber has served on the Virginia Tech CEE Department’s Alumni Board, including two years as board chairman. For four years, he has served as a member of the College of Engineering’ s Advisory Board, serving as its chair for one year. He was also involved with the Board’s Space Review Committee. Mr. Kamber has been a member of the College’s Committee of 100 for many years. In addition, he and his wife are members of the Ut Prosim Society and they have endowed a scholarship within the College of Engineering.