First James Professor Is Expert in Concrete Matters

For the past thirty-two years, Professor Franz N. Rad has served on the faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 23 years as Department Chair. This fall he became the first recipient of the Arthur M. James Professorship established in 2003 by retired structural engineer Arthur M. James and his wife Sandra.

Rad's research accomplishments include a survey of 50,000 non-residential buildings in Portland for seismic hazards and developing earthquake damage and loss estimation models. In PSU's Seismic Testing and Applied Research Laboratory, Rad studies such matters as the capacity of bolts in masonry walls, and the effectiveness of fiber reinforced composites in seismic retrofit applications. He teaches courses including Principles of Reinforced Concrete and Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures. The author of over 70 technical publications, Rad also excels in the classroom and is the recipient of the American Society for Engineering Education's teaching award, among other honors.

See also, Structural Sherlock Creates Engineering Professorship.