By J enifer Golec

W
HI LE SOME PROFESSORS ALL-TOO-
OFTEN SI MPLY REHASH LECTURES
fr om year -to-year , Theodor e V.
Gal ambos i s wel l known for br i ngi ng
fr esh thoughts to
each cl ass.
Ted woul d not
si mpl y use hi s ol d
n otes , s ai d
J er ome H aj j ar ,
associ ate professor
of Str u ctu r al
Engi neeri ng at the
Un i v er s i ty of
Mi nnesota. Page
after page of
r ecen tl y wor k ed
probl ems woul d be
i n each notebook .
Th at i s h ow h e
k ept h i s mi n d
fr esh on the sub-
j ect. Not j u s t
thr ough i ntui ti on
an d pas t ex per i -
ence, but thr ough
har d and pati ent
effort.
Hajjar sai d that
Gal ambos , an
Emer i tu s Pr ofes s or of Str u ctu r al
En gi n eer i n g at th e Un i v er s i ty of
Mi nnesota, has a r emar kabl e commi t-
ment to teachi ng.
Hi s gr aduate cl asses wer e among
th e mos t ch al l en gi n g i n th e depar t-
ment, Haj j ar sai d. Wi th hi s under -
gr aduate cl asses, he woul d str i ve to
r each each student and hi s door was
al ways open.
Whi l e hi s students k now hi m as a
great professor, Gal ambos i s best known
i n the str uctur al steel i ndustr y for hi s
wor k on the devel opment of the 1986
AI SC-LRFD Speci fi cati on, whi ch gar -
ner ed hi m the T.R. Hi ggi ns awar d i n
1981. Hi s work champi oni ng l i mi t states
desi gn earned hi m the affecti onate ti tl e
the father of LRFD.
Ted Gal ambos i s one of the di sti n-
Modern Steel Constructi on /Apri l 1999
gui shed research pi oneers i n advanci ng
pl asti c desi gn, stabi l i ty, and r el i abi l i ty
i n s tr u ctu r al s teel , s ai d Nes tor
I wan k i w, AI SCs Vi ce Pr es i den t of
Engi neer i ng and Resear ch. Al l thi s
r eached i ts engi neer i ng cul mi nati on
wi th hi s major effor ts i n the devel op-
ment of the moder n AI SC Load and
Resi stance Desi gn (LRFD) Speci fi cati on,
for whi ch Ted conti nues to be a zeal ous
advocate.
For hi s accompl i shments as both a
professor and researcher, Gal ambos was
recentl y awarded the Geerhard Haai jer
Educator Award by AI SC. The award i s
gi ven i n speci al recogni ti on to i ndi vi du-
al s who have had a profound and l asti ng
i mpact i n devel opi ng a uni que appl i ca-
ti on for engi neer i ng pr acti ce or i n the
mentor i ng of futur e techni cal l eader s.
Named for one of AI SCs most respected
vi ce presi dents, thi s new award honors
those who, thr ough thei r r esear ch and
teach i n g, h av e h ad an ou ts tan di n g
i mpact on advanci ng the use of structur-
al s teel fr ami ng i n the cons tr ucti on
i ndustr y. The Awar d wi l l be pr esented
at thi s year s Nor th Amer i can Steel
Constructi on Conference i n Toronto.
IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE
Gal ambos achi evements ar e even
mor e amazi ng when you consi der that
hi s car eer i n ci vi l engi neer i ng began
after he pi cked i t out of a book descri b-
i ng vari ous careers.
As a teen ager , H u n gar i an -bor n
Gal ambos spent ti me wi th hi s fami l y i n
a Ger man r efugee camp befor e comi ng
to the Uni ted States. Whi l e ther e, he
met a Quaker who was teachi ng Engl i sh
to resi dents and she asked hi m, What
ar e y ou goi n g to do i n Amer i ca?
Gal ambos had no car eer pl ans at the
ti me, so she gave hi m the afor emen-
ti oned book to read. The descri pti on of a
ci vi l engi neer i ng car eer sounded the
most i nteresti ng to hi m.
I have never been di sappoi nted,
Gal ambos sai d of hi s choi ce. I ts the
most wonderful professi on i n the whol e
worl d.
THE FATHER OF LRFD
While best known nationally for his work on ultimate strength
design, his students know him as a brilliant teacher
Theodore V.
Galambos is widely
regarded as one of
the pre-eminent steel
educators of his gen-
eration.
I n 1949, hi s fami l y i mmi gr ated to a
s mal l town i n Nor th Dak ota an d
Gal ambos got hi s fi rst job as a yard boy
for a steel fabri cati on shop. He attended
the Uni ver si ty of Nor th Dakota fr om
1949 unti l 1954, where he recei ved hi s
BSCE and MSCE. Gal ambos sai d he
stayed on to recei ve hi s MSCE because
I coul dnt get a job because I wasnt a
U.S. ci ti zen. He became a ci ti zen i n
May 1954 and r ecei ved hi s MSCE the
next month.
He i mmedi atel y began wor k i ng at
Babcock an d Wi l cox Compan y i n
Bar ber ton, OH, desi gni ng boi l er str uc-
tures. I roni cal l y, just four months l ater
Gal ambos was dr afted i nto the U.S.
Army where he worked on ai rfi el d con-
str ucti on on the mi ssi l e r ange i n the
Bahamas unti l Apri l 1956.
Gal ambos r etur ned to Babcock and
Wi l cox after the Army, but deci ded that
he needed more educati on to cope wi th
the chal l enges of the modern worl d. He
wrote l etters to both Lehi gh Uni versi ty
and the Uni versi ty of I l l i noi s expressi ng
hi s i nterest i n pursui ng a Ph.D. at the
r especti ve uni ver si ti es. Whi l e I l l i noi s
sent hi m a l etter detai l i ng the rul es and
pr ocedur es for begi nni ng hi s study, he
r ecei ved a per sonal cal l fr om Lehi gh.
Thi s pr ompted hi m to choose Lehi gh
and he ar r i ved ther e on September 1,
1956. Gal ambos r ecei ved hi s Ph.D. i n
J u n e 1959 an d s tay ed th er e as a
r es ear ch as s i s tan t pr ofes s or u n ti l
September 1965.
Ted pr ovi ded an unusual exampl e.
He got r i ght out on the fl oor wi th hi s
gr aduate students, wor ki ng wi th them
i n thei r testi ng, sai d Lynn Beedl e, a
professor at Lehi gh Uni versi tyand the
man who made the personal phone cal l
to Gal ambos i n 1956. And the team
atmospher e was so str ong that, when
mor e hands wer e r equi r ed to conduct
the l ar ge exper i ments on pr ojects that
wer e not hi s own, he woul d often be
seen there wi th a hel pi ng hand.
After al mos t a decade at Leh i gh ,
Gal ambos was i nvi ted to gi ve a semi nar
at Washi ngton Uni versi ty i n St. Loui s,
and eventual l y he made the deci si on to
wor k at Was h i n gton on a fu l l -ti me
basi s.
He made the best of what Fri tz Lab,
the Ci vi l Engi neeri ng Department, and
L eh i gh affor ds , s ai d Beedl e of
Gal ambos depar tur e fr om Lehi gh. He
joi ned the host of those who pr eceded
hi m, and who fol l owed, i n addi ng to our
reputati on as a premi er pl ace to work.
NEWBEGINNINGS
Gal ambos headed to St. Loui s as the
fi r s t h ol der of th e Har ol d D. Jol l ey
Professorshi p and was appoi nted profes-
sor of ci vi l engi neeri ng. He al so served
as department chai r from 1970 to 1978.
I h ad th e oppor tu n i ty to bu i l d a
department from scratch at Washi ngton
Uni ver si ty, Gal ambos sai d. I t i s now
one of the fi ner ci vi l engi neeri ng depart-
ments i n the country.
Fr om ther e, the chance to yet agai n
strengthen a ci vi l engi neeri ng program
l ed Gal ambos to th e Un i v er s i ty of
Mi nnesota. He stayed ther e unti l hi s
r eti r ement i n 1997. However , r eti r e-
men t h as n t k ept Gal ambos fr om
r etur ni ng to hi s r esear ch wor k or the
cl assroom. I n fact, he i s currentl y teach-
i ng a new semi nar on bri dges to fresh-
man thi s quarter.
Teachi ng, for Ted, i s a mor al com-
mi tment, sai d Hajjar. I t i s hi s way of
gi vi ng back to soci ety. For al l hi s contri -
buti ons to the steel i ndustr y, thi s per -
haps i s hi s greatest.
Gal ambos sai d that he has al ways
l oved teachi ng even as a hi gh school
student tutori ng hi s peers. I f I teach, I
have to know what I am teachi ng and
then I l ear n, he sai d. Now I see the
successes of my students and I am very
proud.
Beyond teachi ng, hi s fi el d of experti se
encompasses str uctur al stabi l i ty and
str uctur al r el i abi l i ty and he has had a
l eadi ng rol e i n the devel opment of AI SC,
AI SI , SJ I an d ASCE-7 Stan dar ds .
Amon g h i s better k n own book s ar e:
Structural Members and Frames, and
Basi c Steel Desi gn wi th LRFD.
Gal ambos has ser ved on numer ous
AI SC and ASCE commi ttees over the
years, as wel l as bei ng a member of the
Nor th Amer i can Coor di n ati n g
Commi ttee on Str uctur al Steel Desi gn.
He wi l l present a paper compari ng U.S.,
Can adi an an d Mex i can s teel des i gn
pr acti ces at th i s y ear s NASCC i n
Toronto.
When he i s not wor ki ng, Gal ambos,
who turns 70 thi s Apri l , sai d he l i kes to
take pi ctur es and tr avel wi th hi s wi fe,
Bar bar a, who i s an avi d bi r d watcher .
I n fact, th ey ar e pl an n i n g a tr i p to
South Afri ca thi s summer and Austral i a
next year.
I l l just keep on doi ng what I can, he
sai d.
Modern Steel Constructi on /Apri l 1999
A bookmark bearing
this old photo was
presented to atten-
dees at a symposium
titled Innovations in
Structural Steel
Design: Strength,
Stability, Reliability,
which was held in
honor of Ted
Galambos in 1997.