The Masonry Society’s (TMS) Board of Directors and Awards Committee recently awarded Dr. Paulo Lourenco of the University of Minho Portugal and Dr. Vilas Mujumdar, formerly of National Science Foundation, with Fellow Membership in the Society. Fellow membership is one of the highest awards that can be bestowed on a TMS Member and is granted only rarely for exceptional service by individuals who have been Members of TMS for more than 10 years. TMS will formally recognize Lourenco and Mujumdar at the 2016 TMS Annual Meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina on October 8th. They join a distinguished list of TMS Fellows as shown here.
Dr. Paulo Lourenço of the University of Minho, Portugal has contributed significantly to the advancement of knowledge of structural masonry. He has created one of the largest international research groups, in both historical and modern masonry construction, with a record of over 1000 publications with an h-index of nearly 8000 (this is unusually high for civil engineering). He has created a unique master course in historic structures, and is Editor of the Int. J. of Architectural Heritage. As a designer and consultant for many historical and newly constructed masonry buildings, he has translated much of his research to practice. Dr. Lourenço has recently been appointed as the convener of the revision to the European standard for masonry.
Dr. Vilas Mujumdar has made numerous contributions to many aspects masonry design, construction, research and education. His service to TMS has included membership on the Board of Directors, the Masonry Standards Joint Committee, the Technical Activities Committee, the Codes and Standards Committee, the Design Practices Committee, and the Board of Editors for TMS Responds, but the most important are the initiation of “planned giving” (Donor Appreciation) program concepts to create a permanent source of funding for TMS, and the coordination of discussions to update the long range strategic plan for TMS.
Dr. Mujumdar has held numerous positions in the field of civil engineering with direct relevance to masonry including Chief of Operations of the Division of the State Architect of California, Executive Director and CEO of the Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada, President, CEO, Vice-President, and Member of Board of Directors of several consulting engineering, manufacturing and project management firms, as well as author and educator of masonry design principles and practice. One of his most important contributions to the field of masonry research was his strong support for masonry projects during his tenure as Program Director for the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Programs at NSF, prior to which no NEES projects had been awarded in the area of masonry buildings. In recent endeavors, Dr. Mujumdar has become recognized nationally and internationally for his leadership and contribution to integrated transdisciplinary research addressing natural hazard risks and sustainable infrastructure considering large systems level approaches combining social, economic, and engineering disciplines.
