Beedle Award

The award has been established in honor of the late Lynn S. Beedle, an international authority on stability and the development of code criteria for steel and composite structures. He was a leader and outstanding contributor to the work of the Structural Stability Research Council for a period of more than 50 years, establishing the council as the pre-eminent organization worldwide in the area of structural stability. Through Lynn Beedle’s dedicated work and leadership in the national and international arenas, the structural engineering profession has seen advanced concepts developed into practical engineering tools. He consistently and successfully endeavored to advance collaboration between researchers, engineers and code writers worldwide.

Recipients of the Lynn S. Beedle Award must meet the following criteria:

1. Long time member of SSRC.
2. A worldwide leading stability researcher or designer of structures with significant stability issues.
3. A leader in fostering cooperation between professionals worldwide.
4. Significant contributions to national and international design code development.
5. The SSRC Executive Committee will serve as the award committee. The award may be presented as frequently as annually. An individual can only receive the award once.

The award will be presented at the SSRC Annual Stability Conference. It consists of a framed certificate, signed by the SSRC Chair and Vice Chair.


2009 Award Winner

Professor Wei-Wen Yu
Presented April 3, 2009

Wei-Wen Yu is Curators’ Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly University of Missouri-Rolla). He received his B.S.C.E. from National Taiwan University, M.S.C.E. from Oklahoma State University, and Ph.D from Cornell University.

During the period from 1960 through 1967, Wei-Wen Yu was employed by American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) to work on the AISI Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members and the related activities.

He joined the University of Missouri-Rolla (UMR) faculty in 1968 to teach structural engineering and served on the AISI Committee on Specifications. At UMR, he has conducted and directed numerous research projects on cold-formed steel structures. The research results have been used for development and improvement of the AISI Specification, the ASCE Standard for stainless steel design, and the AISI Automotive Steel Design Manual. Since 1973, he has authored four textbooks on cold-formed steel structures and design published by McGraw-Hill and John Wiley, respectively. In 1990, he founded the UMR Center for Cold-Formed Steel Structures, which was renamed in 2000 as the Wei-Wen Yu Center to honor his contributions. Since 1971, he has directed and co-directed 19 international specialty conferences on cold-formed steel structures for discussion of research findings and design considerations.

Wei-Wen Yu is a past Chair of the SSRC Task Group on Thin-Walled Metal Construction for 15 years, a past Chair of the ASCE Committee on Cold-Formed Members, a past Chair of two subcommittees of the AISI Committee on Specifications, and has been a member of many other professional committees. He is a recipient of the ASCE Shortridge Hardesty Award, SAE Arch T. Colwell Merit Award, Alumni Merit Award of MSM-UMR Alumni Association, AISI Certificate for Appreciation, and many other honors and awards.

Past Beedle Award Winners