Industry Association Names Villanova Engineering Professor “Educator of the Year”

Frank E. Falcone ’70 CE, ’73 MSWREE, AP, PE, D.WRE

Villanova University College of Engineering’s Frank E. Falcone ’70 CE, ’73 MSWREE, AP, PE, D.WRE has been named “Educator of the Year” by the Philadelphia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Nominated by his peers, the award recognizes Falcone’s many professional achievements.

For more than four decades, Falcone has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Villanova’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His areas of technical expertise include hydraulics, hydrology, fluid mechanics, water resources master planning and international water resources development.  He recently was named to the newly created position of Director of Professional Development and Experiential Education, which manages the College’s Career Compass program, which launched in fall 2016.

For his contributions to the College of Engineering, Falcone received the Engineering Alumni Society’s Meritorious Service Award in 1991, and in 1999 he was presented with the Farrell Award, which recognizes a faculty or staff member who demonstrates exemplary personal concern for students. Falcone serves on the University’s selection committee for Presidential Scholars and for the prestigious Praxis Award for Ethics. Active in the community, he is the chairman of the John McKee Scholarship Committee, which provides college scholarships for fatherless boys throughout the Delaware Valley. Falcone also is a founding diplomate in the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers.

A retired captain, Civil Engineer Corps, United States NAVY, Falcone serves as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State in the fields of international arms control and arms control treaty monitoring. He has received numerous medals and awards from the U.S. Department of Defense and has held four NAVY Civil Engineer Corps command positions.

In addition to his teaching and military experience, Falcone provides consulting services and expert testimony in his areas of expertise. He currently is working with Mott MacDonald Corp., and also is the lead engineer and faculty member for a Water Resources Master Plan in southeastern Panama—the first of its kind in Central America. Through his leadership, Villanova’s connections in Panama have grown to include internships at the Panama Canal Authority, collaboration with the University of Santa Maria La Antigua and storm water management student/faculty activities with the City of Knowledge, a government-sponsored cluster of academic organizations, technology companies and non-governmental organizations.

An avid sailor, Falcone enjoys writing for sailing publications. He also is an accomplished singer, performing both as a soloist and choral member.

Of Falcone’s “Educator of the Year” award, Gary A. Gabriele, PhD, Drosdick Endowed Dean of Engineering, says, “This is well-deserved recognition for a terrific Villanovan who has been a teacher and mentor to hundreds of engineering students over the past 43 years. Frank’s commitment to excellence can be found in the many different courses and initiatives he has been involved in, most recently our innovative Career Compass professional development program. More importantly, Frank’s service to both his country and to Villanova is a powerful example of how truth, community and love can lead to a life well lived.”

When asked what the recognition means to him, Falcone says, “Perhaps, the greatest goal that any generation can direct its efforts toward is educating the next generation.”