Abstract
On behalf of ASTM International and the Geotechnical Testing Journal (GTJ), I’m writing to thank Dr. William (Bill) J. Likos for his outstanding service as a GTJ Co-Editor and to welcome Dr. Nazli Yesiller as she transitions into this role starting in January 2021. Bill is the Gary Wendt Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and chair of the department. His expertise is in the area of geotechnical engineering, with particular emphasis on unsaturated soil mechanics and expansive clay behavior. He published one of the first textbooks on unsaturated soil mechanics and authored numerous journal and conference papers. He is a two-time recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Norman Medal and was awarded the ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize and the Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Award. Bill also received the Transportation Research Board K. B. Woods Award. Bill has been a member of ASTM and has served as Co-Editor of the GTJ since 2009. He is an active member of ASTM Committees D18 on Soil and Rock and A01 on Steel, Stainless Steel and Related Alloys, and is currently serving as chair of the ASTM Committee on Publications. In 2019, Bill received the Committee D18 C. A. Hogentogler Award. He guided the GTJ as a Co-Editor for 12 years and has been a tremendous part of the journal’s success. During that time, review turnaround times reduced drastically, paper count increased significantly, and the Journal Impact Factor more than doubled. We are grateful to Bill for his outstanding dedication and service to the journal. Thank you, Bill. Dr. Nazli Yesiller will begin her first term as a GTJ Co-Editor in January 2021. Nazli received BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from Bogazici University, Istanbul, in 1989 and 1991, respectively, and she received a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994. Nazli has been the director of the Global Waste Research Institute at California Polytechnic State University since 2010. Nazli has authored numerous journal papers, conference proceedings, reports, and magazine articles. Nazli has been very active in ASTM International, having joined Committee D35 in 1998 and Committee D18 in 2002. She is currently the 1st Vice Chair of Committee D18, Chair of Subcommittees D18.14 (Geotechnics of Sustainable Construction), and D18.98 (Hogentogler Award). She has been a Vice Chair of Committee D18 from 2018 to 2020, a member-at-large of the D18 Executive Committee from 2014 to 2018, and Chair of Subcommittee D18.04 (Hydrologic Properties and Hydraulic Barriers) from 2006 to 2016. She began serving on the Editorial Board of the GTJ in 2003 and chaired the GTJ awards committee between 2010 and 2020. She has authored/co-authored five ASTM standards. Nazli received a New Standard Development Award from Committee D35, four Richard S. Ladd Standards Development Awards from Committee D18, two Special Service Awards from Committee D18, and the 2007 Award for Outstanding Article on the Practice of Geotechnical Testing from the GTJ. I look forward to working with Nazli to continue to make the GTJ the premier journal that it is. Welcome, Nazli. Finally, I would like to thank the authors for choosing the GTJ for publication of your manuscripts and the ASTM International staff, our outstanding editorial board members, and the numerous peer reviewers for their time, effort, and service to the GTJ.
