Accomplished engineer, fervent community creator, and enthusiastic supporter of the continued excellence of Iowa State
Inducted 2025
Richard Soukup started building his legacy while still an undergraduate, active in engineering and department organizations like Chi Epsilon, Tau Beta Pi, and the American Society of Civil Engineers, where he planned events for VEISHEA and Greek Week. Soukup was a member of Iowa State’s chapter of Triangle Fraternity, a social fraternity for engineers, scientists, and architects, which remains to this day.
Upon graduation in 1967, Soukup volunteered to join the Navy and was accepted into the Civil Engineering Corp, known as the Seabees. He went to officer candidate school, completed training at the Civil Engineering Corp College, and was assigned as an Assistant Officer in Charge of Construction at the Naval Air Station in Lemoore, CA. He was assigned to a new base, where he oversaw the runway concrete placement, and construction of jet hangars. He was honorably discharged as a lieutenant after three years of service.
Soukup attained his MBA from the University of Colorado in 1971 and began his accomplished 35-year career with ExxonMobil right after. He started as a project engineer, and quickly climbed the ladder, adding leadership and responsibility as his expertise in foundation design, construction, and refinery management grew. He held 17 different positions and was a key manager of the Exxon and Mobil merger in 2000 before concluding his time with ExxonMobil in the Procurement unit, retiring in 2006.
Soukup and his wife Linda are generous supporters of the department and Iowa State as a whole. In 2012, they established the Richard & Linda Soukup Scholarship Fund, providing 60 scholarships to CCEE students to date. The pair gifted to the Marston Hall renovation project in 2016, where the Engineering Development office is now named after them. Across campus, the pair have supported the continued development of Parks Library and the new NanoVaccine Institute facilities in the Advanced Teaching & Research Building. Supporting the social fraternity he was a member of on campus, Soukup was a vital contributor towards the purchase of the Triangle Fraternity chapter house on Lincoln Way. With a permanent residence established, Triangle is thriving with 90 active engineering students, achieving its 60th year on campus in 2024. Most recently, the Soukups created an endowed Fellowship to retain and inspire Civil Engineering professors for our department.
In retirement, Soukup has continued as a professional Tennis Official. Originally becoming an umpire when his daughter started playing tennis competitively in the early nineties, he slowly rose through the ranks officiating junior, high school, college, and now professional matches. He officiated at the US Open in New York for 16 years, in the chair for world-class players.