Editor’s Note

Members of the ASCE Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (TCFE) were deeply saddened to hear of the death of our friend and colleague, W. Gene Corley. Dr. Corley passed away peacefully on March 1, 2013, at the age of 77.

Dr. Corley was employed as senior vice president of the Construction Technology Laboratories, Inc. (CTLGroup) in Skokie, Illinois. He received his degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in structural engineering. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army from 1961 until 1964. During this period, he was a research and development coordinator with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. His duties included bridge design, acceptance testing of mobile floating assault bridge equipment, design of tank-launched bridges, and fatigue testing of bridges fabricated from high-strength steel, aircraft aluminum, and titanium alloys.

Dr. Corley began his employment at the Portland Cement Association as a development engineer from 1964 to 1966. He was responsible for the design, construction, testing, and research related to structural projects. From 1966 to 1968, he was manager of the Structural Development Section and was responsible for the overall management of civil engineering projects in the states of Illinois and New York. In 1968, he moved to the Structural Research Section as manager with full responsible charge. In 1974, as director of engineering development, he had responsibility for directing major civil engineering projects in North America and developing improved design procedures for structural concrete, concrete pavement, railroads, and structures subjected to fire loads. In 1979, he was named divisional director. He also served on an earthquake damage investigation team, carried out investigations of damaged or deteriorated structures, and developed repair procedures for numerous structures. In 1984, he was named executive director of Engineering and Resource Development.

In 1987, the laboratories of the Portland Cement Association were spun off as a separate entity, and Dr. Corley was appointed vice president of the newly formed Construction Technology Laboratories, Inc. In 2000, he was promoted to senior vice president, serving as CTLGroup's managing agent for professional and structural engineering related to industrial structures, transportation and parking facilities, bridges, and buildings. His range of experience included evaluation of earthquake- and blast-damaged buildings and bridges; investigation of distress in prestressed concrete structures; repair of parking garages damaged by corrosion; evaluation and repair of high-rise buildings, stadiums, silos, and bridges; and design and construction of repairs for prestressed and conventionally reinforced precast and cast-in-place concrete and structural steel facilities.

Dr. Corley was one of the world’s foremost experts in analyzing buildings damaged by blast, earthquakes, fires, and tornados. He served as an expert and adviser during the investigation and trial resulting from the 1993 fatal fire at the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas. He was selected by ASCE in 1995 to lead a Building Performance Assessment Team investigating the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In September 2001, he was chosen to head the ASCE/FEMA team assigned to study building performance after the attack on New York’s World Trade Center.

A member of the National Academy of Engineering, Dr. Corley was the author of more than 170 technical papers and books. He frequently lectured to technical and nontechnical groups on prevention of failures, effects of earthquakes, and design and repair of structures. He also regularly presented training courses on reinforced concrete design and taught the seismic design portion of a refresher course to candidates for the Illinois Structural Engineering License examination.

Dr. Corley chaired ACI Committee 318 for 6 years as the committee developed the 1995 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete. He also served on numerous other national and international committees that prepare recommendations for structural design and for design of earthquake-resistant buildings and bridges. His professional activities resulted in his receiving 26 national awards, including Best Structural Publication Award from NCSEA, Outstanding Paper from the ASCE Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, the Wason Award for research from ACI, the Henry C. Turner Award and the Alfred E. Lindau Award from ACI, the T.Y. Lin Award from ASCE, and the Martin Korn Award from PCI. He also received several regional awards, including the UIUC College of Engineering Alumni Award for Distinguished Service, the SEAOI Service Award, Illinois ASCE Structural Division’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Henry Crown Award, and the John Parmer Award from SEAOI.

Within the TCFE, Dr. Corley was a significant presence from the time the Council was established in 1985. He was a frequent contributor to the Journal, both as an author and as a reviewer. His papers reviewing the investigations of terrorist attacks and the lessons that can be learned from those investigations are commonly cited by other researchers and have contributed to the research agenda, leading to designs that are more resistant to terrorism. In 2002, Dr. Corley was given TCFE’s highest award, the Forensic Engineering Award, for his dedication to the tradition of learning lessons from forensic investigations.

In addition to his professional contributions, Dr. Corley was involved in many other activities that made his life complete. Among these activities were his service as elder and deacon of his church, member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Boy Scout leader, and president of the county chapter of the American Red Cross. He was a member of two yacht clubs.

At the ICE International Conference on Forensic Engineering, held in London in April 2013 (see next section), the value of Dr. Corley’s contributions was recognized by all delegates. At the closing plenary session, Dr. Jonathan Wood, one of the conference organizers, called for a moment of silence as a memorial to Dr. W. Gene Corley, “…who not only performed technically competent forensic investigations, but also did something about the lessons learned. He was a model for all we aspire to be.”

Personally, I will always remember Gene Corley as an inspiring role model of professionalism. Quiet and confident in leadership roles, he was always a gentleman: kind, competent, and unassuming. He was genuinely interested in people, and despite his busy schedule he always had time to talk with me. I counted on him in many ways over the years, especially as related to Journal activities, where he played a major role in the development of some of our special publications related to blast effects on constructed facilities. I was blessed to have known Gene Corley. I appreciate his positive influence on my life. I know that I express the feelings of many others when I write that we will miss him immensely.

The Fifth International Conference on Forensic Engineering: “Informing the Future with Lessons from the Past” was successfully held in London, April 16 and 17, 2013. The event was hosted by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) at the organization’s magnificent headquarters building near the Houses of Parliament.

The conference was attended by delegates from 16 countries, making it a truly international event and bearing testament to the growing worldwide interest in the practice and influence of forensic engineering. A number of ASCE representatives were among the delegates and presenters. Forty-one peer reviewed papers were presented in two simultaneous tracks, along with plenary sessions to begin each day and a third plenary at the end of the second day. Papers were organized into the following topics: forensic investigation case studies (bridges, building failures and investigation, case studies) ground and below-ground works; legal, contract, and learning; education and continuing professional development in forensic engineering; materials failures and investigation; and temporary works. Conference proceedings are available in electronic and hard-copy format from the Institution of Civil Engineers.