John T. Christian
John T. Christian | |
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| Born | November 2, 1936 Brooklyn |
| Died | June 5, 2022 (aged 85) Alexandria , Virginia |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States of America |
| Occupation | Engineer |
John T. Christian ( Brooklyn , November 2, 1936 – Alexandria , Virginia , June 5, 2022 ) was an American civil ( geotechnical ) engineer.He received his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (B.S., M.S., and Ph.D.)
Career
From 1966 to 1973, Christian taught Civil Engineering at MIT. He then left academia and moved to Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation of Boston. He retired as Executive Vice President in 1994.
In 2015, Christian went back to academia and served as Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell until 2022.
Christian researched the use of computer analytic and statistical methods in geotechnical engineering.
Christian wrote more than 100 juried papers on geotechnical engineering. In addition, in 1977, he co-authored a book on the subject, Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering. In 1996, he co-authored a book on Productivity Tools for Geotechnical Engineers. In 2003, he co-authored a book on Reliability and Statistics in Geotechnical Engineering.
He worked on earth dam evaluation and design. He was also involved in the evaluation of flow through porous media, as well as solid waste landfills, foundation engineering, nuclear power plants, pipelines, offshore facilities, dykes, and mooring facilities.
He also performed geotechnical analyses for on-site nuclear spent fuel storage facilities and for the stability of mining waste embankments. This experience led him to testify before Congress on the viability of nuclear waste storage facilities.
In 1999, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). At the NAE, he served as Section 4 (civil engineering) Chairman.
In 2001, he became a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. In addition, he was the recipient of many professional honors and awards from ASCE, the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, and other organizations. Awards included the including the Geo-Institute Cross USA Lectureship in 2012-2013, and the prestigious Terzaghi Lecture Award of ASCE in 2003.
Christian was the Chairman of the NAE committee reviewing the status of the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project. Under his auspices, the committee proposed management and contractual changes to expedite the project’s completion. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Christian served as a member of the NAE Committee on the New Orleans Regional Hurricane Projects and the NAE Committee to review the Louisiana Coastal Restoration Project. He also chaired the NAE Committee on the Bureau of Reclamation’s processes for ensuring dam and levee security.
Christian was widely recognized for his passion for diversified engineering education. For this reason, he was invited to be Chairman of the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), the body that accredits undergraduate educational programs in engineering and technology across the United States.
References
External links
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