Marshall University Professor Wael Zatar has received the 2025 Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Distinguished Educator Award. The award recognizes his contributions to PCI’s educational initiatives and his work with students and fellow educators.
The PCI Distinguished Educator Award honors engineering, architecture, and construction educators who have made sustained contributions to precast and prestressed concrete education. Zatar, a PCI fellow and 2006 Leadership PCI program alumnus, has previously received both the PCI Distinguished Educator Award and the PCI Educator of the Year Award. PCI President Robert Risser and Chairman of the Board Jim Fabinski presented the award at the PCI Annual Membership Meeting & Luncheon during the 2025 PCI Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event was attended by over 1,000 professionals in the field, and a video highlighting Zatar’s work was shown.
Zatar is a professor in Marshall University’s College of Engineering and Computer Sciences and previously served as its founding dean. He established the Encova Center for Engineering and Safety and the Center for Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation. He also served as director of the Appalachian Transportation Institute.
His work in precast concrete education includes developing courses on prestressed and reinforced concrete design and transportation sustainability. A PCI colleague noted that these courses have contributed to precast concrete education at Marshall University and beyond.
Since 2006, Zatar has been involved in PCI’s educational efforts, serving on several committees, including the PCI Student Education Committee, which he currently chairs. He is also involved with the PCI Educational Activities Council, the Continuing Education Committee, the Online Academy Committee, and the Research and Development Council. Additionally, he serves as Vice-Chair of the PCI Fiber Reinforced Polymers Committee and has participated in multiple PCI research and technical committees.
Zatar has contributed to updating PCI’s “Prestressed in a Box” presentation series, which helps university professors incorporate prestressed concrete concepts into their courses. He also developed teaching materials for a full semester course on prestressed concrete. He is a judge for PCI’s national Big Beam Competition, where students design and build precast, prestressed concrete beams, and is involved in developing a similar student competition focused on architectural precast concrete.
Before joining Marshall University, Zatar worked at the University of Kentucky and West Virginia University Tech. He has been at Marshall for 20 years, starting as a structural engineering professor. He later served as interim dean of the College of Information Technology and Engineering and was appointed permanent dean from 2012 to 2020.