Leslie Barksdale Mantiply, PE, a project manager and engineer in the Danville, Virginia, office of Dewberry, has been named a 2022 Top Young Professional by Engineering News-Record (ENR) Mid-Atlantic magazine. The recognition honors the “best and brightest emerging design and construction leaders” from the region, which includes Virginia, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
An accomplished civil engineer who has overseen a wide range of infrastructure projects throughout southern Virginia, Mantiply has been with Dewberry since graduating from Virginia Tech in 2014. Many of her projects have included securing funding for critical upgrades and new development. For the City of Martinsville’s Smith River Interceptor Sewer rehabilitation project, Mantiply’s efforts were instrumental in securing state and federal grant funding. Widely published and recognized in the industry, the project involved emergency measures to protect the river and long-term repairs that serve the city’s businesses and industries.
Additional Virginia projects for which Mantiply has played a key role include the design of the water and sewer infrastructure to support the 3,528-acre Southern Virginia Megasite at Berry Hill in Pittsylvania County and upgrades to the infrastructure supporting Microsoft’s data center in Mecklenburg County. The projects represent more than $100 million in construction.
Mantiply has been a leader in the profession with active involvement in several industry organizations, such as the Water Environment Federation. She has authored numerous technical articles and presented at association conferences, including the 2021 Virginia Rural Water Association conference.
In the community, Mantiply is active with a number of business and non-profit organizations. She is a member of the Danville-Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee and a graduate of the chamber’s Leadership Southside Program. In 2017, she was awarded the Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) Award from the Danville-Pittsylvania Chamber of Commerce in recognition of her professional achievements in the municipal engineering field as well as her contributions to the region.
She recently completed a two-year term as an advisory member of the Danville Regional Foundation, focusing on the revitalization of the region. She is a member of the Danville After Hours Rotary Club and was recently appointed to the board of trustees of the Institute for Advanced Learning. Mantiply is also a former chair and regular participant in the Danville Area CROP Hunger Walk and serves as a board member of the Junior Wednesday Club, a women’s philanthropic organization focused on local fundraising for charitable causes.
Mantiply earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech (2014). She holds certifications in the National Association of Sewer Service Companies (NASSCO) Pipeline Assessment Program, the NASSCO Lateral Assessment Program, and the NASSCO Manhole Assessment Program.
“From the beginning of her career, Leslie has always wanted to live and work in a community where she could make a difference,” says Dan M. Pleasant, PE, Dewberry Chief Operating Officer and a Danville resident for more than 40 years. “She has continued to exceed this goal. As an engineer and as a community member, she has made a difference in a lot of people’s lives, and I look forward to seeing what else she will accomplish.”
