Grubb to Receive AISC’s Highest Design Honor

The following information and photo was provided by the American Institute of Steel Construction.

The American Institute of Steel Construction will present the J. Lloyd Kimbrough Award, which recognizes the pre-eminent steel designers of their era–to bridge industry legend Michael A. Grubb, PE, executive director at M.A. Grubb & Assoc., LLC.

Grubb is just the 13th person to receive the Kimbrough Award since 1941. Previous recipients include Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Fazlur R. Khan, Leslie E. Robertson, John Kulicki, and, most recently, David I. Ruby.

“It’s hard to overstate Mike’s contribution to American infrastructure over his career,” said AISC President Charles J. Carter, SE, PE, PhD. “He’s been a relentless contributor, and nobody can communicate the big picture and the details behind it better. AISC is proud to recognize his accomplishments.”

Purdue University’s Robert J. Connor, Jack and Kay Hockema Professor of Civil Engineering and director of S-BRITE/CAI at the Lyles School of Civil Engineering, pointed to Grubb’s decades of work developing AASHTO LRFD BDS provisions for steel bridges. “I am confident that Mike has had either a direct or indirect role in helping move every ballot related to steel bridges for AASHTO for at least 30 years,” he wrote. “His knowledge of the history of steel bridge design is unsurpassed.”

Grubb has been tremendously generous, in terms of sharing that knowledge with a generation of bridge designers. “I would venture that he has instructed more engineers than most faculty have instructed in their entire careers, in terms of numbers of individuals in the classroom,” Connor wrote.

Grubb has authored or co-authored 40 publications covering all aspects of steel girder bridge design–research work that consultant Karl H. Frank, PE, PhD, noted would satisfy tenure requirements at most universities. “Mike’s publication record is extraordinary for a nonacademic,” he noted in a nomination.

AISC will formally present the award during the opening keynote of NASCC: The Steel Conference in San Antonio at 8:00 a.m. Central on Wednesday, March 20.