January/February 2025 - 11

THERESA ENGLER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE
Wow! It's 2025. How did that happen?
Time really flies, doesn't it? Not only is
it a brand new year but it is also a very
special year for DFI. Our 50th year of
existence! We're thrilled to celebrate
with all our members throughout the
year, culminating in a spectacular
event at our 50th Annual Conference in
Nashville, Tennessee, October 20-23.
And with the years (and months) going
by so quickly the conference will be
here before you know it.
As I write this, just before Christmas
and Hanukkah, many of you are likely
working on your abstracts for the
anniversary celebration since they are
due January 13. By the time you read
this, the deadline will have passed, and
our conference organizing and technical
committee will be hard at work
reviewing submissions. They'll select
the best of the best for a program that
promises to be both reflective and
forward-looking.
The conference agenda will highlight
historic milestone projects, advancements
in our industry's practices,
and the evolution of techniques and
project delivery. But it won't stop there
- it will also look into the future,
imagining what lies ahead in the next 50
years. We are so pleased to have past
president (2015-2016) and recent
Distinguished Service Award recipient
(2023) John Wolosick leading the charge.
He is supported by three program chairs:
Lois Schwarz, Ph.D., Tensar; Sam
Sternberg, P.E., BC.GE, Dan Brown and
Associates; and Adam Hacker, P.E., HDR.
Together with the full group of members
crafting a technical program and
social/celebratory activities, their plans
are sure to wow the attendees. We do
hope you'll be one of them.
A Year of Celebrations Awaits
Anniversary celebrations will take
place throughout the year. Our marketing
team is commemorating the
mi l e s t o n e wi t h s o c i a l me d i a
#DFIMondayRewind posts and memories
of
#DFIThroughTheDecades. We
encourage you to join in by sharing
memories of your own, whether as
recent as the last decade or from the
beginning of DFI's formation and growth
since 1976.
Additionally, this magazine will
honor DFI's legacy with a historical
article in each issue of 2025, spotlighting
a significant project or momentous
Your contributions, innovative project
work, committee activities and advertising
drive this magazine and bring
important information to our readership.
article from each decade of our history.
The featured article in this issue, see
page 45, is a reprint of charter member
Bengt Fellenius' Nov/Dec 1993 article
on wave equation analysis. We are
fortunate he could prepare a foreword
that reflects on the evolution of testing
methods.
The early days of DFI's periodical
were modest yet impactful. In the first
decade, DFI didn't have a magazine, but
rather a newsletter, titled The Deep
Foundations News, which continued
through 1993 as a 12-page update on DFI
and industry happenings. In 1994 its
name changed to Fulcrum - The
Newsletter of the Deep Foundations Institute
nd
and grew in length to 16 pages. Each year
a few more pages were added until it had
reached 40 pages in 2000 when it was
decided Fulcrum was more of a magazine
than a newsletter and should be printed
on glossy paper. As the organization
grew so did the number of magazine
pages and the number of technical
articles published. From 1976 through
2002 the publication was basically black
and white but come that fall, the book
underwent another transformation,
adopting a full-color format and
becoming the publication you know
today: Deep Foundations - The Magazine of
the Deep Foundations
Institute, whose format
has evolved, its
l eng th oft en 136
pages and it is perfect
bound rather than
saddle-stitched. The
growth is thanks to
you, our members. Your contributions,
innovative project work, committee
activities and advertising drive this
magazine and bring important information
to our readership.
So, are you ready to party with DFI in
2025? Join us in celebrating and
honoring the members, past and
present, who have made DFI what it is
today - a premier global association of
geoprofessionals dedicated to advancing
quality and economy by sharing their
knowledge and experience with each
other to improve the design and construction
of projects with complex
geotechnical conditions. Congratulations
on 50 years!
See our anniversary commemoration on social media
#DFIMondayRewind
a #DFIThroughTheDecades
DEEP FOUNDATIONS * JAN/FEB 2025 * 11
January/February 2025

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2025
