Randy Leonard

Randy Leonard has lived in Kansas for more than 45 years, first arriving in 1980 when he was assigned to Ft. Riley by the U.S. Army. A native of north Georgia, he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in military science from the University of Georgia before commissioning as a field artillery officer. After completing training at Ft. Sill, he served in the 1st Infantry Division Artillery for three years. When his military service concluded, Randy attended Kansas State University to pursue a civil engineering degree, building on his artillery background in math, trigonometry, and surveying. In 1986 he joined the Kansas Department of Transportation as a bridge engineer, later becoming the Bridge Team Lead for the Bureau of Local Projects. Following the I-35W bridge collapse, he played a key role in strengthening Kansas’ local bridge inspection program through improvements to scour evaluations, load ratings, and fracture-critical inspections.

In 2011, Randy became the Oklahoma Bridge Engineer for the Federal Highway Administration and later earned certification as an instructor with the National Highway Institute. After retiring in 2018, he spent eight years teaching NHI safety inspection courses nationwide before joining LTAP and KUTC in a part-time role. A licensed Professional Engineer with nearly 40 years of experience, Randy looks forward to providing engineering assistance to cities and counties across Kansas. He and his wife now live in Elk County on her family’s historic land and enjoy spending time with their two children and granddaughter.