August 2019 Vol. 74 No. 8
Business News
Buddy Barnes Named President of SAME
Lt. Col. Wendell L. “Buddy” Barnes, P.E., F.SAME, USA (Ret.), was elected as the 100th National President of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME). As president, he leads the SAME National Leadership Team and the Board of Direction in overseeing the strategic efforts of the Society. This includes guiding the organization to its Centennial in 2020 and implementing its 2025 Strategic Plan, now under development.
Through nearly 28,000 members worldwide, SAME leads collaborative efforts to identify and resolve national security infrastructure-related challenges. With a National Office in Alexandria, Va., and over 100 local Posts and Field Chapters around the globe, the Society unites military, public, private and academic sector individuals and organizations across all disciplines in support of national security.
Currently, Barnes is a senior vice president with Arcadis, which he joined in 2016. Previously, since retiring from the military, he was an executive with Jacobs, MWH Global, and Carter & Burgess, and worked for a decade as an engineer and planner with the city of Houston (1988-1998).
A former U.S. Army engineer officer, Barnes served more than 20 years in uniform, including as a platoon leader with the 26th Engineer Battalion, Americal Division, during the Vietnam War.
Within SAME, he has served in leadership positions at all levels and has a total of 10 years on the National Board of Direction in various roles. He also has served as president of the Tombigbee Post, Savannah Post, and Houston-Galveston Post, each of which was named a Distinguished Post during his tenure, and has been involved on many local, regional and national committees and groups.
He is one of only two Society members who has been honored with both the SAME Walter O. Bachus Gold Medal for lifetime achievement (2003) and the Academy of Fellows’ Gerald C. Brown Mentoring Award (2004).
He also has received the SAME Wheeler Medal (1980), Goethals Medal (1997), Post Service Medal (2009), and Presidents Medal (2016). •
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), (703) 549-3800, same.org
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