Ten Outstanding Designers, Industry Professionals, and Educators You Should Know
CHICAGO – Innovation abounds in the structural steel industry, and the American Institute of Steel Construction is honoring 10 leaders in the design, construction industry, and education fields at this year’s NASCC: The Steel Conference.
“It’s getting crowded on the cutting edge,” said AISC President Charles J. Carter, SE, PE, PhD. “These 10 people have made extraordinary contributions to the present–and future–of America’s built environment.”
The presentations will take place at 8:00 a.m. Central on Wednesday, March 20, during the opening session of NASCC: The Steel Conference in San Antonio. AISC will also present its highest design honor, the J. Lloyd Kimbrough Award, to Michael A. Grubb, PE; the T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award to Benjamin W. Schafer, PE, PhD; and the Milek Fellowship to Mohannad Zeyad (M.Z.) Naser, PE, PhD. Headshots are available for download here.
AISC’s Lifetime Achievement Awards recognize living individuals who have made a difference in the success of AISC and the structural steel industry.
In 2024, AISC will present Lifetime Achievement Awards to:
- Senior Engineer Heather Gilmer, PE, of Pennoni for her significant contributions to the steel bridge industry
- President Robert E. Shaw, Jr, PE, of Steel Structures Technology Center, Inc. for his work educating designers and fabricators on bolting and welding, his creation of the Student Steel Bridge Competition, and his continuing work on numerous AISC and industry committees
- Professor of Civil Engineering Ronald D. Ziemian, PE, PhD, of Bucknell University for his contributions to AISC and the structural steel industry through his research, teaching, service on committees, his speaking engagements, and his many articles and papers on the stability of steel structures
AISC will honor additional five people with Special Achievement Awards:
- Caroline R. Bennett, PE, PhD, Charles E. & Mary Jane Spahr Professor and Chair at the University of Kansas, for advancing knowledge about the behavior of hot-dipped galvanized steel structures
- Iowa University James L. and Katherine S. Melsa Dean of Engineering W. Samuel Easterling, PE, PhD, F.SEI, Dist.M.ASCE, for Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative (SDII) research that drove impactful changes to standards governing the use of metal deck diaphragms in steel structures
- Virginia Tech Professor Matthew R. Eatherton, SE, PhD, for Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative (SDII) research that drove impactful changes to standards governing the use of metal deck diaphragms in steel structures
- Jerome F. Hajjar, PE, PhD, CDM Smith Professor and Department Chair at Northeastern University, for Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative (SDII) research that drove impactful changes to standards governing the use of metal deck diaphragms in steel structures
- Johns Hopkins University Hackerman Professor of Civil and Systems Engineering Benjamin W. Schafer, PE, PhD, for Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative (SDII) research that drove impactful changes to standards governing the use of metal deck diaphragms in steel structures
AISC also recognizes those who build a brighter future by supporting tomorrow’s leaders. This year, AISC will present the Terry Peshia Early Career Faculty Award to:
- Onur Avci, PE, PhD, assistant professor and Herbert P. Dripps Faculty Fellow at West Virginia University, for exceptional promise and continued excellence in structural steel research, teaching, and service to the industry
- Assistant Professor Machel Morrison, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego, for exceptional promise and continued excellence in structural steel research, teaching, and service to the industry
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For more information contact:
Dani Friedland
Director of Marketing Communications
773.636.8535
[email protected]
About the American Institute of Steel Construction
The American Institute of Steel Construction, headquartered in Chicago, is a non-partisan, not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry. AISC’s mission is to make structural steel the material of choice by being the leader in structural steel-related technical and market-building activities, including specification and code development, research, education, technical assistance, quality certification, standardization, market development, and advocacy. AISC has a long tradition of service to the steel construction industry of providing timely and reliable information.
