By Editorial Services
An international symposium in Tokyo, Japan, honored the career and contributions of Dan M. Frangopol, the inaugural Fazlur R. Khan Endowed Chair of Structural Engineering and Architecture Emeritus and professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at Lehigh University. Frangopol is also professor emeritus of civil engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.
The October 19 event, Advances in Life-Cycle Civil Engineering, brought together researchers and engineering professionals from around the world to recognize Frangopol’s five decades of contributions to structural reliability, risk, resilience, sustainability, and the life-cycle management and optimization of civil infrastructure. Speakers included former graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, colleagues, and collaborators from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.
The presentations highlighted not only Frangopol’s contributions to civil and marine engineering, but also his influence as a teacher and mentor, his leadership in establishing international professional organizations, and his efforts to foster collaboration across the global research community.
The event drew 91 participants: 56 in person, 17 via video messages, four via text messages, and 14 passive viewers online.
The symposium was organized and hosted by Mitsuyoshi Akiyama, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Waseda University and a former visiting research associate at Lehigh hosted by Frangopol in 2008–09 and 2018–19. The event also marked the 20th anniversary of the International Association for Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE), which Frangopol founded in 2006 and continues to serve as president.
Frangopol is widely credited with establishing the field of life-cycle civil engineering. His contributions have influenced how civil engineers assess the performance and cost of structures and infrastructure systems over time. His research emphasizes the importance of considering deterioration, inspections, maintenance, risk, resilience, costs, and sustainability throughout the service lives of these systems.
In a tribute prepared for the symposium, Bruce Ellingwood, professor and College of Engineering Eminent Scholar at Colorado State University (retired) and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, praised Frangopol’s influence on the field.
“You have become a scholar that other scholars seek out which, to me, is one of the highest accolades that anyone can receive,” Ellingwood wrote.
As part of the program, Frangopol delivered a two-part plenary lecture, “From Structural Reliability to Life-Cycle Civil and Marine Engineering: My Journey over the Past Five Decades,” tracing his career from its early foundations through his years at the University of Colorado Boulder and Lehigh.
The program also featured reflections from colleagues, collaborators, and former graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, delivered in person or through video and written messages during the symposium and banquet. Participants included the rector of the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest, colleagues from the University of Liège and the University of Colorado Boulder, and Lehigh civil and environmental engineering professors Shamim Pakzad and James Ricles.
During the symposium, Pakzad read a message from Lehigh University President Joseph Helble: “Please convey my greetings, and my thank you to the organizers of the symposium for putting together such a stellar program acknowledging Dan’s enormous contributions to civil engineering, through his pioneering work establishing and leading the field of life-cycle engineering. I was privileged to host Dan and his wife at my home last spring, joined by the Chair of our Board of Trustees, our Provost, and our Dean of Engineering, to celebrate his election to the US National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his accomplishments and a lifetime of engineering leadership. We are proud to have had him as a member of the Lehigh University faculty, and honored to be part of him being recognized at this symposium.”
At the conclusion of his remarks, James Ricles, director of Lehigh’s Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems (ATLSS) Engineering Research Center, presented Frangopol with a plaque issued in connection with the center’s 40th anniversary celebration. The inscription read: “For decades of transformative leadership in life-cycle structural engineering, risk assessment, and infrastructure management, and distinguished service as the Fazlur R. Khan Endowed Chair. The ATLSS Engineering Research Center has achieved an enduring legacy of academic excellence through your outstanding leadership and National Academy of Engineering recognition.”
The banquet toast was delivered by Masayoshi Nakashima Ph.D.’81, an international member of the NAE.
Frangopol retired from Lehigh in 2025 and was elected to the NAE that year. His many professional honors include the establishment of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Dan M. Frangopol Medal for Life-Cycle Engineering of Civil Structures in 2023.
