May 10, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO - Researchers continue to make groundbreaking discoveries in the world of structural steel every day, and the American Institute of Steel Construction is looking for those innovations.

AISC is seeking nominations for the prestigious T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award, which recognizes an innovative lecturer/author whose outstanding technical writing constitutes a major addition to engineering literature on fabricated structural steel.

Nominations are due July 1, 2023.

In addition to taking home a $15,000 cash prize, the T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award winner will present a keynote address at the 2024 NASCC: The Steel Conference in San Antonio, Texas, March 20 to 22, 2024. The winner will also present their work, upon request, at various prestigious professional events throughout the year.

The jury will consider each nominee's reputation as a lecturer. They will also evaluate the following aspects of their work:

• Originality

• Clarity of presentation

• Contribution to overall engineering knowledge

• Future significance

• Value to the American fabricated structural steel industry

A distinguished panel of industry experts will weigh this year's nominations for the T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award.

AISC would like to thank those judges for their time and dedication:

• Mike Kempfert, CSD (Milwaukee)

• Jason McCormick, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

• Frank Russo, Russo Structural Services (Havertown, Pa.)

• Chia-Ming Uang, University of California, San Diego (La Jolla, Calif.)

• Brian Volpe, Cives Engineering Corporation (Alpharetta, Ga.)

• Duff Zimmerman, Cooper Steel (Shelbyville, Tenn.)

How to submit a nomination

Email your nomination package to Martin Downs at AISC: downs@aisc.org. (Please contact him directly if you'd prefer to submit your nomination by mail.)

All nominations must include the following:

• The name and affiliation of the nominee

• The title and publication citation of the nominee's outstanding paper(s). (If a work has multiple authors, please identify the principal author.)

• A copy of the paper(s), along with any published discussion

• A brief description of the merits of the nominee and their work

Eligibility

Any paper published in a professional journal between Jan. 1, 2018, and Jan. 1, 2023, is eligible for award consideration.

Nominees must be:

• Permanent residents of the U.S.

• Available to attend and present at the 2024 Steel Conference, which will take place March 20 to 22 in San Antonio, Texas

• Available to present their work at least six times on selected occasions throughout the year

About the 2023 T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award Winner: Jennifer McConnell, PhD

AISC was proud to present the 2023 award to University of Delaware professor Jennifer McConnell, PhD. Her lecture, “Steel Structures to Withstand the Elements: What Structural Engineers Need to Know about Corrosion,” details her groundbreaking research into the performance of uncoated weathering steel in bridges. Her work incorporates long-term field data on the performance of steel structures and corrosion protection methods in various environments and includes an analysis of practical design strategies that improve corrosion resistance.

If your organization is interested in hosting a T.R. Higgins lecture, please contact Christina Harber, AISC’s senior director of education, at harber@aisc.org. 

About Theodore R. Higgins

Theodore R. Higgins joined AISC as chief engineer in 1940 and served as its director of Engineering and Research from 1945 to 1968. He played an especially prominent role in more than 20 years of research that led to the development of plastic design techniques for steel structures. His pioneering work developed the research and engineering principles that form the basis of today's steel design and construction knowledge.

The T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award honors his unparalleled contributions to the structural steel industry and recognizes those who continue his work today. A list of past winners is available here.