Zdeněk P. Bažant Receives ASCE Freudenthal Medal

Zdeněk P. Bažant is selected to receive the ASCE Freudenthal Medal. This medal, awarded biennially by the ASCE, is regarded as the highest recognition in probabilistic mechanics and structural safety. It is named after Alfred M. Freudenthal, who, coincidentally like Bažant, got his engineering and doctoral degrees in Prague, began his career, like Bažant, by designing bridges, and, after starting to teach in Prague, escaped by emigration, like Bažant, a nasty oppressive regime. By fusing probabilistic modeling with mechanics of fracturing processes in the material microstructure, Bažant fruitfully followed Freudenthal’s paradigm. He is cited for “developing a comprehensive theory of probabilistic mechanics of strength, lifetime, and size effect of quasi-brittle structures.”

The medal will be awarded at the ASCE-EMI annual meeting at MIT, Cambridge, MA, on May 31.

McCormick News Article