EAST LANSING, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Venkatesh Kodur brings an international reputation and a worldwide industry network into his new leadership role as chair of the Michigan State University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His appointment began July 1.
Leo Kempel, dean of the MSU College of Engineering, said Kodur is one of the world’s leading experts in structural fire engineering.
“He has substantially increased the reputation of CEE at MSU through the capabilities he has established and the accomplishments of his research group. He will continue as an active researcher while leading the department on a growth trajectory across a broad range of research and service.”
Kodur is a professor and director of the MSU Center on Structural Fire Engineering and Diagnostics. He joined MSU in August 2005.
“Emerging trends such as increasing natural and manmade disasters, deteriorating infrastructure, climate change, and the need to enhance living standards of vast sections of the population, pose significant challenges to society,” Kodur said. “These challenges provide unique opportunities for civil and environmental engineering profession to develop innovative solutions and technologies that can have significant impact on society."
Kodur’s academic contributions have led to the development of fundamental understanding on the fire behavior of material and structural systems, and have also resulted in numerous design approaches and innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing fire-resistance of structural systems.
He has published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences, and has given numerous invited keynote presentations.
He is a fellow of two academies and three institutes. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Structural Engineering, and Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, and chairman of ASCE-29 (Fire) Standards Committee.
He replaces Thomas F. Wolff, associate professor of CEE, who served as interim chair of the department for a year.
Read more on Kodur at: http://www.egr.msu.edu/news/2016/05/16/kodur-lead-cee
The Michigan State University College of Engineering has nine academic programs serving 5,200 undergraduate and more than 600 graduate students. For more, visit www.egr.msu.edu.