FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MANHATTAN COLLEGE HONORED DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI ELECTED TO THE PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

New York City Resident and Co-chair of The Thornton-Tomasetti Group Elected to NAE

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Manhattan College recently honored Richard L. Tomasetti ’63, co-chairman of Thornton-Tomasetti Group and alumnus of the College, at a special event on December 1, 2004. This ceremony, held at the College’s William J. Scala Academy Room, recognized distinguished alumni who were recently inducted into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for their outstanding contributions to the field. The NAE is the highest professional distinction accorded an engineer, and recognizes the individual’s contributions in engineering theory, practice and in the pioneering of new technologies.

The College also honored several members of its alumni community at the ceremony, including James W. Cooley ’49 and Thomas E. Romesser ’71, who were both recently inducted into the NAE, and engineering faculty members Dr. Moujalli Hourani and Dr. Robert Sharp, recipients of faculty fellow awards. Dr. Hourani, associate professor and chair of civil engineering, was named the The Thornton-Tomasetti Faculty Fellow, a professor-student research fellowship established by Mr. Tomasetti’s firm. Dr. Sharp, associate professor of environmental engineering, was named The Donald J. O’Connor Faculty Fellow.

Mr. Tomasetti’s 30-year career as a structural engineer includes some of the world’s most exemplary projects, from the design of the World Financial Center in New York to Plaza 66 in Shanghai, China’s tallest concrete building. His firm, Thornton-Tomasetti, is the consulting structural engineer for the world’s tallest buildings including, Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia and Tapei 101 in Taiwan. In 2004, Mr. Tomasetti, a resident of New York City, was elected into the NAE for innovative structural engineering in the design of high-rise buildings and long-span structures.

Mr. Tomasetti, an active lecturer and published author, completed a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and received an honorary doctorate from Manhattan College. He earned his master’s degree in civil engineering from New York University. His numerous honors and awards include the New York Building Congress 2003 “Industry Honoree,” the New York Association of Consulting Engineers 2002 “Engineer of the Year Award,” and Engineering News-Record’s citation, “Those Who Made Marks,” for developing the “stressed skin” tube structure for high-rise buildings. He is the co-author of Exposed Structures in Building Design (McGraw Hill, 1993) and has written the chapter on the protective design of structures in Building Security: Handbook for Architectural Planning and Design, released in 2004 by McGraw Hill.

A plaque in honor of Mr. Tomasetti was unveiled at the ceremony and is now displayed in the College’s William J. Scala Academy Room at the school of engineering. His plaque joins several others lining the walls of the Scala Room. These plaques acknowledge members of the Manhattan College academic community elected to the NAE. 

Manhattan College was founded in 1853 upon the Lasallian heritage of excellence in teaching inspired by St. John Baptist de La Salle.  Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science.  For more information about the College, visit www.manhattan.edu.

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