Leslie E. Robertson

Leslie E. Robertson
Born Leslie Earl Robertson
February 12, 1928
Nationality United States

Engineering career

Engineering discipline Structural engineer
Institution memberships Institution of Structural Engineers
Practice name Leslie E. Robertson Associates
Significant projects World Trade Center
Shanghai World Financial Center
Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong
Significant awards John Fritz Medal (2012)
IStructE Gold Medal

Leslie Earl Robertson (born February 12, 1928) was one of the structural engineers of the World Trade Center in New York and was responsible for the design of the buildings' sway-reduction features. He has since been structural engineer on numerous other projects, including the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.

Career

Robertson's engineering career began in 1952, when he graduated from the Berkeley school of civil engineering with a bachelor of science degree and joined Kaiser Engineering. In 1958 he joined the Seattle structural and civil engineering firm Worthington and Skilling.

As an "up-and-coming engineer", Robertson was selected by Worthington, Skilling, Helle, and Jackson (WSHJ) to participate in the design of the World Trade Center Twin Towers (1966–1971), his first high rise construction.[1] In 1973 Robertson was made a partner and WSHJ was renamed Skilling, Helle, Christiansen, Robertson. The firm split its operations in 1982 with Robertson renaming the East Coast office Leslie E. Robertson Associates R.L.L.P.[2]

Robertson's firm participated in the development of a database of basic structural information for the towers of the World Trade Center (WTC1 and 2) for NIST and FEMA[3] and to record the undocumented structural changes that had been made to the buildings after construction began.

Since the collapse of the World Trade Center, debate about the safety of rent-space-maximized designs have engaged the profession, but most would agree that the design of the World Trade Center actually withstood the impact of the plane with enough time to allow many thousands to evacuate safely.[4]

Education

Awards

References

  1. Koch, Karl (2002). Men of Steel: The Story of the Family That Built the World Trade Center. New York: Crown Publishers. ISBN 1-4000-4601-7.
  2. Leadership and Management in Engineering magazine. Volume 9, Issue 1, Engineering Legends pp. 46-50 (January 2009)
  3. Leslie E. Robertson Associates support to NIST/FEMA
  4. http://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/fema403_execsum.pdf
  5. "2004 Fazlur Khan Medal Winner". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  6. "Award Guide and Past Recipients". American Association of Engineering Societies. Retrieved 2013-04-01.

External links