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T.Y. Lin was a professor emeritus of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UC Berkeley.

The College lost a luminary on November 15, in the passing of Tung-Yen (T.Y.) Lin at his home in El Cerrito, California. At 91, T.Y. Lin was active, alert, and engaged until the end of his life, including meeting with former students in the past week.

"T.Y. Lin brought great light to Berkeley and to our department," says Greg Fenves, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, where T.Y. Lin was a professor emeritus. "As one of the most innovative structural engineers in this century he was recognized internationally in many ways."

Lin achieved worldwide renown not only for the projects he designed, such as San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center, but also for the innovative ideas he proposed, beginning with a "Peace Bridge" across the Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia.

In 2001, the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library's Regional Oral History Office (ROHO) published T.Y.Lin's oral history, a series of interviews capturing the life and times of this extraordinary man's visionary spirit.

"For half a century, I have been witness to the brilliance of T.Y. Lin," wrote Berkeley colleague and professor emeritus Alexander Scordelis in the oral history's introduction. "It is a brilliance that illuminates not only from his mind, but from his heart; not only from the excellence of his innovations, but from the warmth of his intentions; not only from his pioneering work, but from his visionary spirit."

Born in 1912 in Fuzhou, China, Lin earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Jiaotung University in 1931 and then came to Berkeley as a graduate student. His master's thesis on direct moment distribution led to important advances in structural design, and, as the first student thesis published by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), became a classic in the field.

Lin returned to Shanghai in 1933 to work with the Chinese Ministry of Railways. At 25, he became chief bridge engineer of the mountainous Chungking-Chengdu Railway system, helping to survey, design, and build more than a thousand bridges across China's rugged terrain. He married Margaret Kao in 1941 and five years later joined the Berkeley engineering faculty. Here he pioneered the development and use of pre-stressed concrete, which combines concrete with steel tendons for both strength and economy. Engineering News Record called the material a "radically simple idea" that made standard the fabrication of pre-stressed frames, slabs, and shells used in construction worldwide.

To link his teaching and research with actual practice, Lin founded T.Y. Lin International in 1954. He retired from Berkeley in 1976 to lead the company full-time. He left in 1992 after the firm was sold and went on to form Lin Tung-Yen China.

T.Y. Lin at the San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center, which he designed.

Honored throughout his life for his groundbreaking achievements, Lin received the National Medal of Science, is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, was named Alumnus of the Year by the California Alumni Association, was listed among the 125 "Top People of the Past 125 Years" by Engineering News Record, and was the first recipient of ASCE's Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Design award. ASCE renamed its annual Pre-stressed Concrete Award the T. Y. Lin Award.

"As an enthusiastic supporter of Cal, the College of Engineering, and the civil and environmental engineering department, we will greatly miss T.Y.'s inspiration and encouragement," added Fenves.

Lin is survived by his wife of 62 years, Margaret of El Cerrito; his son, Paul Lin of Palo Alto; his daughter, Verna Lin-Yee of Oakland; his younger sisters, Nancy Li of Massachusetts, Amy Shen of Virginia, Sylvia Chen of New York, and Anna Hu of San Jose; his younger brothers, Tung-Qi Lin of Massachusetts and Tung-Kuan Lin of Torrance, Calif.; and five grandchildren.

T.Y. Lin, world renowned structural engineer, dies at age 91 (Campus Press Release)

COE Lab Notes feature: 1946: Tung-Yen Lin (CE '33) returns to UC Berkeley where he pioneers the use of prestressed concrete and proposes a bridge across Gibraltar

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© 2003 UC Regents. Updated 11/30/03.