METE A. SÖZEN (1930-2018)

BY SHARON L. WOOD AND JAMES O. JIRSA

METE AVNI SÖZEN, internationally renowned for his innovative contributions to structural and earthquake engineering research, died on April 5, 2018, at the age of 87. A dedicated educator, researcher, and mentor, Mete “retired” twice — the first time in 1994 at age 64 after 37 years of teaching at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and again in 2016 at age 86 from Purdue University.

Mete was born on May 22, 1930, in Istanbul to a prominent Georgian-Turkish family. He attended English boarding schools in Istanbul before enrolling in Robert College, an American university in Istanbul (now Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), in 1947. Initially drawn to history and literature — his passions at the time — he ultimately decided to study civil engineering to help rebuild Turkey’s infrastructure, which had been devastated by World War I and the War of Independence. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Robert College in 1951.

After receiving his master’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois in 1952, Mete worked as a practicing engineer for a year with Kaiser Engineers in Oakland, California, and Hardesty and Hanover in New York. He returned to the University of Illinois in the fall of 1953 to pursue a Ph.D. working with Chester P. Siess (NAE 1967) on an experimental investigation of the shear strength of prestressed concrete beams. Upon completing his Ph.D. in 1957, he joined the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1959 and full professor in 1963. In 1994, after nearly four decades at the University of Illinois, he joined Purdue University as the Kettelhut Distinguished Professor of Structural Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering.

Throughout his career, Mete demonstrated a unique ability to generalize the behavior of reinforced and prestressed structures subjected to the effects of gravity loading, wind, blast, earthquake, and fire. He frequently utilized detailed computational modeling to analyze structural systems and conducted physical laboratory tests to identify the key drivers of performance. His ability to distill complex structural behaviors into intuitive, practical engineering approaches led to significant advancements in structural design and safety. He translated research results into building code provisions, improving the safety of the civil infrastructure. Mete was never satisfied with the status quo; he continuously sought new ways to approach and solve complex engineering problems.

Mete’s many lasting contributions to structural engineering and the design of reinforced concrete structures include the following: his development of the Equivalent Frame Method for proportioning and detailing two-way floor systems using two-dimensional analyses; his introduction of concepts of energy dissipation, ductility, and strength decay to understand the performance of reinforced concrete structures during earthquakes; his work with the MTS Corp. to develop the uniaxial shaking table at the University of Illinois for subjecting small-scale reinforced concrete systems to earthquake ground motions; his use of reduced structural stiffness to approximate the nonlinear cyclic response of reinforced concrete structures using linear models; and his role as the leading advocate for shifting the focus of design procedures for earthquake resistance from strength to drift control.

Mete’s understanding of structural behavior was shaped not only by his experimental and computational work but also by extensive field investigations of earthquake-damaged buildings around the world. He observed firsthand the damage in Skopje, Yugoslavia (1963); Anchorage, Alaska (1964); Caracas, Venezuela (1967); San Fernando, California (1971); Managua, Nicaragua (1972); Sendai, Japan (1978); Mexico City, Mexico (1985); Central Chile (1985); Loma Prieta, California (1989); and multiple earthquake sites in Turkey.

Following the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, which caused the collapse of two Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical buildings, Mete was appointed to a three-person team tasked with reviewing and revising seismic design requirements for VA healthcare facilities. The resulting document, H-08-8 Earthquake-Resistant Design Requirements for VA Facilities, is regarded as the first modern seismic design code in the United States. He later worked with the Department of State to assess structural damage in embassies following earthquakes and bombings and collaborated with the Bureau of Reclamation on the seismic response of dams. Additionally, he served on the FEMA/ASCE reconnaissance teams investigating the structural damage to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building caused by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon.

As a longtime member of American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee 318, which develops the Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete, Mete was instrumental in developing and updating the seismic design provisions used in the United States and worldwide.

During his career, Mete supervised over 50 Ph.D. students, many of whom went on to distinguished academic careers. He inspired his students to pursue excellence and instilled the importance of clarity and brevity in all forms of communication, shaping their writing skills in ways that were instrumental in advancing their careers. He remained a mentor, advisor, and friend long after they graduated. Among his favorite sayings were “question calculation” and “writing is rewriting.” Mete frequently discussed the impact of the fundamental work conducted by his mentors at the University of Illinois — Nathan M. Newmark (NAE 1964), Chester P. Siess (NAE 1967), and Ralph B. Peck (NAE 1965) — as well as their predecessors, Hardy Cross and Harald M. Westergaard.

Elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1977, Mete also received numerous awards for his research and service. He was a distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and an honorary member of the American Concrete Institute, the Architectural Institute of Japan, the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and the International Association for Earthquake Engineering. In 2006, the Applied Technology Council recognized him as one of 13 Top Seismic Engineers of the 20th Century. He was also a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and received honorary degrees from Janus Pannonius University (Pécs, Hungary); Georgian Technical University (Tbilisi, Georgia); and Boğaziçi Üniversitesi.

Beyond engineering, Mete had a profound love of reading, particularly in science, politics, history, and Turkish poetry. He and his wife, Joan, frequently traveled to Turkey, where they developed a keen interest in ancient Greek and Roman ruins. They restored homes in Eski Doğanbey, an abandoned village near the Aegean Sea, where they spent summers entertaining friends and visiting ancient cities such as Priene, Miletus, Didyma, Ephesus, and Aphrodisias.

Mete is survived by his wife of 47 years, Joan; his son, Timothy; his daughters, Adria and Ayshe; and four grandchildren.