Purdue News
Purdue News
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February 4,1994 Illinois civil engineer named to professorship at PurdueWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.–Purdue University trustees Friday (2/4) ratified the appointment of Mete (MET-uh) A. Sozen to a distinguished professorship. Sozen, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was appointed the first Kettelhut Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, effective Aug. 15. "Purdue is fortunate to have a person of Dr. Sozen's caliber as the first individual appointed to this important professorship," Robert L. Ringel, executive vice president for academic affairs, said. "As one of the world's leading authorities on concrete structures, he instantly enhances the university's stature in this specialty." Vincent P. Drnevich, head of the School of Civil Engineering, said, "Dr. Sozen's work indicates a need for a fundamentally different approach to earthquake code provisions. He will be working with fellow colleagues and students at Purdue and around the world to research and implement this new approach." Sozen received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Robert College in Turkey in 1951. He earned his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Illinois in 1952 and 1957, respectively. Sozen is an internationally recognized expert in concrete design and the design of earthquake-resistant concrete structures. He has been a professor of civil engineering at the University of Illinois since 1957. As a member of the U.S. Veterans Administration's advisory committee on structural safety, Sozen helped develop structural criteria for earthquake-resistant design of the agency's reinforced concrete buildings. Also, he has served as chairman ofthe American Concrete Institute's subcommittee on seismic design, developing the regulations now used worldwide for earthquake-resistant designs. Among his current professional activities, Sozen serves on the Illinois governor's Earthquake Preparedness Task Force and is a member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, he has been the major professor of 69 doctoral students, 4O of whom are now professors at major universities. Karl H. Kettelhut graduated from Purdue with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering in 1926. In 1935 he founded Kettelhut Construction Inc. in Lafayette, Ind., and served as the company's president until his retirement in 1975. Kettelhut's firm built nearly 5O buildings at Purdue, including the Memorial Union, Stewart Center, Recreational Gymnasium, Young Graduate House and Lilly Hall of Life Sciences. Kettelhut was awarded an honarary doctorate from Purdue’s School of Civil Engineering posthumously in 1991. Contact Purdue News Service (765) 494-2096 or purduenews@purdue.edu
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