Distinguished Alumni Award

Gregs G. Thomopulos is a dedicated friend and supporter who has leveraged his career experience and connections to greatly benefit the University of Iowa College of Engineering and its students.

Professionally, Thomopulos rose through the ranks from a summer intern (in 1965) to the president (in 1987) and CEO (in 2000) of Stanley Consultants, a global engineering, environmental, and construction services company. Under his leadership, the company has made outstanding contributions to the engineering field, including bringing electricity to the Philippines, safe water to Egypt, and post-Gulf War reconstruction to Kuwait and Iraq.

Thomopulos has also lent his expertise to the UI College of Engineering during major growth periods. He served as a member and chair of the College of Engineering's advisory board during the critical final construction period of the Seamans Center for Engineering Arts and Sciences.

In 2000, Thomopulos played a key role in the IIHR—Hydroscience & Engineering campaign to renovate and expand the Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory. In addition to serving as a member of the advisory board and personally contributing to the cause, he generated interest for the project within his company. His enthusiasm helped secure several significant donations, including the lead family gifts that resulted in renaming the building in honor of C. Maxwell Stanley, a fellow Distinguished Alumni Award winner and the founder of Stanley Consultants.

Thomopulos fosters a spirit of service in his colleagues, and his example drives them to invest both in the UI and other state universities. With more than 40 years of experience in the engineering and construction industry, Thomopulos shares invaluable lessons as a frequent lecturer and classroom mentor to UI civil and environmental engineering undergraduate and graduate students.

He has provided scholarship, research, and facilities support to students, faculty, and alumni. He also serves on the UI Foundation board of directors and was instrumental in securing one of the first corporate gifts to the university's flood relief effort.

As an avid supporter of the UI's Ethnic Inclusion Effort for Iowa Engineering program, Nigerian-born Thomopulos mentors many minority students and tenure-track faculty members. The program has benefited from his company's financial support and enthusiasm, which has contributed to a more diverse engineering workforce and a growing number of engineers equipped to work in non-Western cultures.

In recognition of this commitment to diversity and his contributions to the consulting engineering industry, the Engineering News-Record named Thomopulos its 21-st Century World Citizen in 2004, just one of many honors he has collected in the course of his career.

Through his many personal and professional contributions, Gregs G. Thomopulos has strengthened the University of Iowa's mission of education and service across the state and around the world.

Thomopulos is a member of the UI Foundation's Presidents Club and the UI Alumni Association.