Two longtime employees of the City of Knoxville Engineering Department have been honored by professional associations and appointed to prominent professional boards.

Stephen J. King, Deputy Director of Engineering, was given the Professional Engineer in Government Award by the Knoxville chapter of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers. This award recognizes a professional engineer employed by a local, state, or federal governmental agency for his/her engineering achievements, education, continuing education, professional/technical society activities, TSPE membership, awards or honors, and civic and humanitarian activities.

King has also been named by Gov. Bill Haslam to a four-year term on the Tennessee State Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners. The board is responsible for regulating and registering engineers, architects, landscape architects, and registered interior designers across the state.

In other kudos for the department, Engineering Planning Chief Brent Johnson has received two notable recognitions from his professional peers. He has been asked by the National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies to co-chair the organization's Stormwater Committee. The committee consists of about 40 members from agencies across the country and has two co-chairs, one from the Western states and one from the Eastern states.

Johnson has also been named as the Tennessee delegate to the National Society of Professional Engineers' House of Delegates, the agenda-setting body for the national organization. The NSPE House of Delegates includes one member representative from each state and territorial chapter.

"These are well-deserved honors for Steve and Brent, and demonstrate the esteem both of them are held in by their colleagues across the state and nation," said Christi Branscom, the City's Senior Director of Public Works. "Both of them exemplify the expertise and commitment to professionalism that are hallmarks of our Engineering Department."