Michael C. Ircha

Dr. Michael Ircha is Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering and Emeritus Associate Vice President (Academic) at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). He is also Senior Advisor to the Association of Canadian Port Authorities, as well as an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University and serves as a member of UNB’s Transportation Group. Prior to this academic appointment, Dr. Ircha served as city engineer, director of urban planning, and city administrator in two Canadian municipalities (Amherst, NS and Vanier, ON), and as a military engineer with 1-CEU at CFB Winnipeg. A former UNB Associate Dean of Engineering, he also served as Associate Vice-President (Academic), Acting Vice-President (Academic) and Acting Associate Vice President (Capital Planning & Development).

Following many years in senior administrative positions, in 1996, Dr. Ircha was elected President of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. Prior to this he served as the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of New Brunswick Second Vice-President, and President of the New Brunswick Branch of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.

Dr, Ircha chaired the City of Ottawa’s Pedestrian and Transit Committee, the City of Fredericton’s Planning Advisory Committee, and the UNB’s Centre for Nuclear Energy Research. He was also a director of the Fredericton International Airport Authority, and chaired.

Dr. Ircha has degrees in civil engineering, urban planning, and public administration from Queen’s University, a certificate in international strategic studies from Canada’s National Defence College, and a doctorate in ports administration and planning from Cardiff University. He received the 2004 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration. In 2007, he was awarded the UNB President’s Medal for outstanding teaching, research and service. Dr. Ircha received the New Brunswick Merit Award for community leadership in 2006. He has facilitated strategic planning projects and workshops for municipal, provincial, federal and university groups. An active consultant, he has undertaken management, planning and engineering projects and facilitated numerous workshops on leadership, management, transportation, planning, and environmental issues.

As an international lecturer, Dr. Ircha was named “Distinguished Transportation Professor” by the International Intermodal Expo and has received several research prizes. He is a frequent contributor to numerous peer-reviewed and trade journals and Dr. Ircha co-edited Federal Property Policy in Canadian Municipalities, McGill-Queen’s University Press, June 2013. For the past three decades, Dr. Ircha delivered UN port management courses to senior port and government officials in Yemen, Tanzania, Jamaica, Indonesia, France (IPER), Britain, the US (Maine Maritime Academy) and annually at the UN’s World Maritime University in Sweden and the Shanghai Maritime University.

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