Jack E. Buffington

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Admiral Jack E. Buffington served thirty-four years in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps, wherein he rose to the position of Chief of Engineers and Commander of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command in charge of Navy contracting and public works worldwide.  He was in charge of an annual workload of $7 billion dollars with over 22,000 employees.  In addition, he represented the 24,000 active and reserve Seabees and Civil Engineer Corps officers throughout in the Navy.Jack Buffington

His decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal with Gold Star, the Legion of Merit with three Gold Stars, the Navy Achievement Medal and the Vietnamese Medal of Merit.  Under Jack’s leadership, his construction battalion was awarded the Best of Type and the prestigious Peltier Award as the top Seabee battalion in the Navy.

As Associate Director of the Mack-Blackwell National Rural Transportation Study Center, Jack oversaw studies for federal, state and local agencies and private companies concerning highways, bridges, waterways, railroads and other issues affecting rural America.  Until his retirement in 2009, Jack was also a Research Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering where he taught construction management. He also developed a high quality job search program in the department to ensure all students had access to jobs after graduation. In recognition of his tremendous service to the students of his department he received the 1999, 2002 and 2004 “Outstanding Service to Students Award” from the College of Engineering. 

Jack has been recognized many times for his professional achievements.  He was selected as the 2002-2003 State of Arkansas Professional Engineer of the Year.  He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and is a past president of the National Academy of Construction.  In 2003, Jack was elected to the grade of Honorary Member in the American Society of Civil Engineers and was honored by the Society of American Military Engineers with the prestigious Golden Eagle Award.

An expert in public works and transportation engineering, Admiral Buffington is a member of several professional societies including the National Society of Professional Engineers, the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineers, which he helped to found, and the Society of American Military Engineers.  He has served on the boards of both the National Institute of Building Sciences and the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment, and on the executive committee of the Transportation Research Board, in addition to over 20 other national and regional committees, councils and boards. He has chaired the Federal Facilities Council, served on the Department of Energy's Greybeard Committee, and acted as an advisor to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Arkansas River Commission.