Steven Leftwich, Ph.D., P.E., P.S.

Steven Leftwich, Ph.D., P.E, P.S., was raised on a farm in Forest Hill, West Virginia. He was salutatorian of Hinton High School’s class of 1971.

Having always been interested in math and science, Leftwich graduated from WVU Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering in 1975. He went on to complete his master’s and doctorate degrees in civil engineering in 1977 and 1980, respectively, from the University of Virginia.

Leftwich worked for the Bechtel Corporation from 1979 to 1987 on several projects which included the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), the nation’s only operating radioactive waste glassification plant at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico, the nation’s only deep geologic long-lived radioactive waste repository, and the Shuttle Assembly Building (SAB), a structure used to shield the space shuttle from wind during its stacking on the launch pad, at Vandenburg Air Force Base, California.

Leftwich began his teaching career at Tech in 1987 as an Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering, teaching mechanics and structural engineering courses. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1989, awarded tenure in 1991, and promoted to Professor in 1994. He served as Chair of Civil Engineering from 2005 to 2022. Leftwich has attended over 100 seminars and workshops in his career at Tech to remain current in surveying and the design specifications for steel, reinforced concrete, masonry, and timber design.

Leftwich was recently selected as the WVU Tech ASCE Student Chapter 2024 Professor of the Year and the ASCE WV Section 2024 Outstanding Civil Engineering Educator of the Year.

Leftwich holds Professional Engineering (PE) licenses in California and West Virginia and a Professional Surveying (PS) License in West Virginia. He lives in Charleston with his wife Kathy, who is a retired Professor from BridgeValley Community & Technical College. They are the proud parents of two grown children, Bailey and John. Leftwich enjoys working on his farm and doing woodworking.