During this year’s Alumni & Families Weekend, Saturday, October 17, was a big day for GW Engineering as we celebrated the power of experiential learning at our school’s open house and alumni achievements at the Spirit of GW Awards Ceremony.
GW Engineering nominated Christopher J. Wiernicki, M.S. ‘83, for the prestigious Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of his influential career in the maritime industry and extraordinary support of GW. As an internationally recognized executive, board leader, and technology strategist, Wiernicki has made a significant impact across sectors, including maritime, energy, industrial, and government.
Wiernicki is one of only about 2,000 elected members of the National Academy of Engineering and only the 7th GW Engineering alum. He spent over 30 years at the American Bureau of Shipping, working his way up to being chairman and CEO. A true luminary in the maritime field, Wiernicki has advanced initiatives to decarbonize the U.S. shipping industry and developed international partnerships that have brought the global community closer together through shipping.
For Wiernicki, being recognized by his alma mater was a “humbling” moment. He was presented with the award by President Ellen Granberg while surrounded by family at the event, including his wife, mother-in-law, and two children, both of whom are GW alums. Over the years, he has generously leveraged his success to give back to GW by not only sharing words of wisdom as our 2025 commencement speaker but also supporting key maritime initiatives at GW Engineering like the Consortium on Naval Enterprise Pathways (CoNEP).
In a video testimonial congratulating Wiernicki on this award, Phillipe Bardet, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and director of CoNEP, said: “He has risen to the top of his field, and therefore, was nominated by his peers to lead the future of the U.S. relative to the maritime world. I’ve been impressed by how approachable he is and how easy it is to talk to him, but also by how quick-thinking he is and by his talent for synthesizing information and boiling it down to a few fundamental principles. This is what we strive to do as engineering professors, and he achieved this in the professional industrial world.”
Stories like Wiernicki’s remind us what’s possible for GW Engineering students. Earlier that day, the open house offered alumni, parents, and students a firsthand look at how we prepare the next generation of engineers and computer scientists to achieve similar success through hands-on learning experiences such as project-based student organizations.
“There’s only one GW Engineering right here in the nation’s capital, where we provide so many different opportunities to not just learn about the technical depth of engineering and computer science–though our students definitely do that here–but to also learn the broader societal context of technology and innovation,” said GW Engineering Dean John Lach in his welcoming remarks.
Leaders of the SEAS Student Peer Advisory Network took attendees on a tour of the Science & Engineering Hall to see where students learn and innovate. A special visit from GW’s Provost Ed Balleisen further underscored the strong institutional support for interdisciplinary initiatives.
The student groups represented included George Hacks and the Baja SAE, GW Rocket, Electric Yacht, and Design/Build/Fly teams. All of these students arrived at GW Engineering with a deep technical curiosity and an urgent desire to make a tangible, positive difference. Through projects mirroring the real world like these, we help shape them into career-long leaders and instinctive problem solvers who collaborate effectively, communicate clearly, and do the hard work of getting things done.
“Talking to our alumni, I hear it all the time as well. You’re all out there doing things in the world that are not just leveraging your technical expertise, but are leveraging that broader societal perspective that this school instills and supports,” said Dean Lach.
Embodied by both current students and alumni, GW Engineering’s “Engineering and…” ethos continues to cultivate purposeful engineers and computer scientists. We are proud to send these future leaders into the world, and we were ecstatic to celebrate and welcome them back home during GW’s Alumni & Families Weekend.