Peña-Mora

Feniosky Peña-Mora is currently Edwin Howard Armstrong Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering, and Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University. He holds a bachelor of science degree and a post-graduate degree in civil engineering from the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and a master’s in civil engineering and an ScD in civil engineering systems from MIT.

From 2014 to 2017, he was on a public service leave serving in the role of Commissioner of the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC). At DDC, he was responsible for a capital portfolio of 1500 projects valued at $15 billion, undertaken by more than 1,400 workers and 1,320 consultants. Under his leadership, DDC received more than 80 design and professional awards and awarded the highest number of new contracts, approximately $5.4 billion in infrastructure projects. Each one of these accomplishments was a record for DDC. His main priorities were ensuring his department maintained good relationships with its communities and clients, reducing project costs and delivery times, and maintaining sustainability and resilience standards. His successful efforts are evident in increased trust from staff, industry, clients, and public officials.

Prior to his public service leave at DDC, he was the Dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor of Engineering at Columbia University. Previously, he was Associate Provost and the Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Endowed Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before joining the faculty at Illinois, Dr. Peña-Mora was the Gilbert W. Winslow Career Development Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He has been honored many times by industry groups and is widely sought internationally as a speaker on change management, conflict resolution, and large-scale engineering systems. He is the author or co-author of more than 230 scholarly publications. He holds six patents and one provisional patent. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Buildings (CIOB) as well as an elected member of the Dominican Republic Academy of Sciences, and the United States National Academy of Construction.

He is married to Minosca Alcantara, who also is a civil engineer in New York, and they have three children. He enjoys photography, travel, and learning about different cultures.