The James L. Allhands Essay was established by the late James L. Allhands, one of the founding members of AGC and a prolific writer of construction related works. The award recognizes a student essay on a specific topic that is deemed to be beneficial to the advancement of technological, educational, or vocational expertise in the construction industry.
The competition is open to any senior–level student in a four or five–year ABET or ACCE–accredited university construction management or construction–related engineering program.
The First Place essay author receives $1,000. His/her faculty sponsor receives $500. Both the recipient and sponsor are invited as guests of the Foundation to the AGC Annual Convention.
In 2023, the essay topic was "Climate Change Impacts on and Actions from the Construction Industry: Past, Present and Future". A total of 9 essays were received and reviewed by the committee and Alec Kalogeropoulos of Roger Williams University was selected as the first place winner for his essay.
The contest also awarded Thomas Welch of Purdue University second place, and Nathan Keilholz of East Carolina University third place.
Congratulations to all our contest winners and their faculty advisors for their support! The 2024 contest and topic will be available on the AGC Foundation website in July 2023.