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Civil engineering senior Alex Foley has put his own spin on the John F. Kennedy quote “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

Foley, who graduates in May, said, “You hear our administration talk about how SDSU can change you. My mindset was how can I leave an impact on the university itself.”

In Foley’s 3 ½ years on the South Dakota State University campus, he has certainly done that and others have taken note. On Dec. 3, he was recognized as the recipient of the Inspirational Student Leadership Award in Civil Engineering, which was created in 2024.

The setting was the final meeting of the semester of the SDSU chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, an appropriate venue considering Foley served as club president during calendar year 2025. In 2024, he served as treasurer. As a sophomore, he was the club’s representative to the Joint Engineering Council, which is the umbrella group for all student groups within the Lohr College of Engineering.

His pathway to leadership began by joining the steel bridge-building team as a freshman. The upperclassmen there encouraged him to get involved in ASCE.

Foley also credits his parents, Patrick and Tara Foley of Sioux Falls, for his success. “I attribute a lot of what I have achieved today to my father and my mother. If there is anything I can attribute my hard work and dedication to, it is my parents’ support and encouragement to go above and beyond.”

Leading by example

Zachary Gutzmer, a lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and faculty adviser for the American Society of Civil Engineers, said Foley has definitely done that.

Gutzmer said, “Alex became involved early on as a freshman. He has continued to step up in larger leadership roles each year and has become a tremendous leader for the CEE department.

“He has led by example his entire time at SDSU. The roles that he is now mentoring underclassmen in are the roles he was once in himself. He has truly been an exceptional student leader.”

Foley said, “The biggest thing I try to do is display leadership by the effort I put in, to bring my peers up with me. It’s not just how can you elevate yourself, but it’s also how can I set others up for success.”

Brody Spies, who served as vice president under Foley, said, “Alex has never backed down from an opportunity to engage civil engineering students through the ASCE student chapter at SDSU. He is consistently taking charge on various events that ASCE offers throughout the academic year to help provide students with the best experience possible.

“His hard work, passion and dedication to the ASCE student chapter has been greatly appreciated by students and staff alike, and the gratitude will continue for all that he has done for years to come.”

Challenges of presidency

Stepping into the shoes of chapter president wasn’t necessarily easy for Foley. “I’m not too comfortable with giving presentations. I’ve had to step up and give so many presentations and manage a 10-student leadership team.”

In his two semesters as president, Foley said, “I tried to set a precedent for future leaders” in the club’s participation in American Society of Civil Engineers contests. Traditionally, the club has participated in concrete canoe and steel bridge-building contests as well as the Mead academic paper writing competition.

Another ASCE contest is timber strong, which tasks students with building a two-story shed. Foley successfully petitioned the SDSU Students’ Association for funds to help finance the structure and two others from his leadership group took the initiative to form a team. It plans to compete in a Mountain West regional event in Rapid City in late April.

SDSU entries in other contests will compete at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, which is not sponsoring a timber strong contest.

More than bridges being built

Foley is captain of the bridge-building team this year. He also made plans to strengthen that squad in years to come.

Foley noted that at least since he has been at SDSU, there has been a problem with freshmen joining the team and then dropping out during the first semester because they weren’t given a role. That first semester is mostly design work, which requires students to have taken some advanced engineering courses.

This year Foley assigned seven freshmen to a 3D-printed bridge contest. Through the entry-level challenge, students build skills and maintain an interest in bridge building, he said.

Career starts at DGR

After Foley finishes building bridges and walks across the stage at First Bank & Trust Arena, he will head back to DGR Engineering in Sioux Falls. He had internships there in summer 2023 and 2025 and got to know Trent Bruce, a 2000 SDSU civil engineering grad who is a DGR vice president and heads its offices in Sioux Falls and Rapid City.

Bruce said, Foley is “an exceptional recipient of this award and we are excited to add his inspirational leadership to our team at DGR.”

As an engineer-in-training with DGR, Foley will work with municipalities in water, sewer and stormwater projects as well as observe road construction projects enroute to gaining his professional engineering license.

Long term, Foley said he seeks “professional growth by building meaningful client relationships, always striving toward a leadership role by lifting myself up but also lifting others up with me.” His guiding principle: “How can I make the others around me successful as well?”

That attitude is exactly what the Civil and Environmental Engineering committee was looking for when it selected Foley for the $2,500 student leadership award.