and the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Eight Latino students, who participated in LEAD during high school, and are now enrolled in engineering programs at Minnesota State Mankato, have received scholarship dollars.
Charles Walter Nichols Award for Environmental Excellence The Charles Walter Nichols Award for Environmental Excellence was established to recognize outstanding and meritorious achievement in the environmental fields in its broadest sense. This may include, but is not limited to, street sanitation; refuse collection, disposal and recycling; sewers and sewage treatment; and water supply and water treatment. Vicki V. Quiram, P.E., PWLF, Env-SP Assistant Commissioner New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Concord, New Hampshire
Vicki V. Quiram has led a progressive career in private, municipal and state agency engineering across the nation. She started out at the University of Texas in Austin where she earned her B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1979 before becoming a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. In June of 2012, she was appointed as the Assistant Commissioner for the New Hampshire
Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) with the mission to assist in sustaining a high quality of life for all citizens by protecting and restoring the environment and public health in New Hampshire. Throughout her 25-year career in public works management and civil engineering, she has built a reputation of being a regional leader for her contributions to the stormwater field. Through oversight of NHDES’ three divisions—Air Resources, Water Resources and Waste Management— Quiram plays an instrumental role in the overall direction of preserving and improving New Hampshire’s environment. Shortly after assuming her role as Assistant Commissioner, six of the largest communities on the seacoast were issued NPDES permits by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the communities felt were too restrictive. She coordinated with NHDES staff and legal representatives of the communities to institute a peer review study of the data the permits were based on. Though not concluded as of yet, it avoided what was sure to be a long, drawn-out legal fight, instead using the limited resources of the communities to further the science of water quality in the critical Great Bay Estuary.
Harry S. Swearingen Award for Outstanding Chapter Achievement and Excellence in Chapter Service – Individual The Harry S. Swearingen Award was established to recognize outstanding service to APWA as an individual member or corporate company member at the chapter level. Lee Gustafson, P.E. Director of Engineering City of Minnetonka, Minnesota
Lee Gustafson has been a dedicated member of APWA since 1983 and has continually provided outstanding service to the Minnesota Chapter over the years in numerous capacities. He recently completed five years on the Minnesota Chapter Executive Committee—two years as Director, Secretary-Treasurer in 2011, Vice President in 2012, and President in 2013. He is currently serving as Past President as well as the Deputy Treasurer, a newly appointed position in 2014. As President of the Minnesota Chapter in 2013, Gustafson rolled out the new chapter website prior to the chapter’s 2013 spring conference; led initiatives to improve chapter e-mail communications; championed the chapter’s first-ever “Toys for Tots” charitable giving campaign at the 2013 fall conference; and teamed with two Chapter Past Presidents to lead efforts for the chapter to host the 2016 APWA International Public Works Congress & Exposition. Gustafson has also been very involved in legislative activities for the Minnesota Chapter and City Engineers Association, and has quite frequently testified at the Minnesota State Capital on various bills.
Harry S. Swearingen Award for Outstanding Chapter Achievement and Excellence in Chapter Service – Corporation August 2014
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