George Filz, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has received one of three 2007 Virginia Tech Wine Awards for Excellence in Teaching.

The Wine Awards are made possible by a gift from the Alumni Association, honoring William E. Wine, a former rector of the board of visitors and Alumni Association president. Candidates for the Wine Award are nominated by students, alumni and faculty. Each of the eight academic colleges has its own Wine Award Committee to select its candidate from those nominated. These eight names are sent to the university-level Wine Award Committee, which selects and recommends three recipients to the vice president for alumni relations. Each Wine Award winner receives automatic induction into the Academy of Teaching Excellence and a $2,000 cash award.

Filz is dedicating his Wine Award and his future teaching to the memory of Professor G.V. Loganathan, a 2006 winner of the Wine Award. Loganathan was one of the victims of April 16, 2007, when a killer rampaged on Virginia Tech’s campus.

“When I think about the Wine Award, I think of G.V,” Filz said. “He was the best teacher in our department, without question, and he was a role model of faculty dedication to students. G.V. was killed on April 16, just a few days after telling me that I would be the next recipient of the Wine Award. One of the huge tragedies of April 16th is that literally thousands of CEE students who would have been taught by G.V. in the coming years will not have that experience. When I return to the classroom this fall, my thoughts will be about what G.V. would want, which is for all CEE faculty to do a great job teaching and helping students learn."

Filz has a long history of receiving teaching excellence awards. He received three Virginia Tech Certificates of Teaching Excellence in 1995, 1998 and 2005. He received the CEE Alumni Advisory Board Teaching Award in 2000, an award that reflects the judgment of CEE alumni who are able to assess the lasting value of what they learned in school. He also received a 2007 College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

“Without a doubt, Dr. Filz is one of the finest teachers that we have in the College of Engineering and the CEE Department,” said Dr. William Knocke, head of the Via Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.  “He has demonstrated a long history of continuous teaching excellence, which the William E. Wine Award was established to recognize.”

A professor of Geotechnical Engineering, Filz’s research specialties lie in the areas of foundation engineering, soil improvement, soil-structure interaction, vertical barriers and landfills.  He received the Middlebrooks Award in 2003 and the Croes Medal in 2006, both from the American Society of Civil Engineers, in recognition of his research.

Filz received his bachelor’s in mathematics from the University of Oregon and another bachelor’s in civil engineering from Oregon State University. He received his master’s in civil engineering from Oregon State University and his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.