8:54 a.m., June 28, 2010----Michael Chajes, dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware, has received the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Medal from the University of California, Davis. He was recognized at his alma mater's commencement exercises on June 11.

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The medal was established in the 1980s to recognize UC Davis engineering graduates who have 15 or more years of experience and have demonstrated outstanding professional or technical achievements as well as significant service contributions.

In introducing Chajes at the awards ceremony, Bruce White, dean of the UC Davis College of Engineering, said, “Michael Chajes received his doctoral degree in civil engineering at UC Davis in 1990. Since that time, he has distinguished himself as a cutting-edge researcher in the field of bridge testing, evaluation, and rehabilitation, as well as being a national leader in engineering education and the advancement of the engineering profession. He is a dynamic ambassador for engineering, dedicated to educating the next generation of engineers and magnifying the significant good they can do here and abroad.”

Chajes was one of three UC Davis alumni to win the engineering medal in 2010. The other two were Tim Bucher, a former Apple engineer credited with creating the Mac mini and managing the core technology groups working on the iPod, and Jeffrey Canclini, an experimental test weapon system operator with Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Corporation and a naval aviator.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Chajes completed his master's and doctoral degrees at UC Davis, where he was twice selected recipient of the outstanding graduate student teaching award.

Chajes joined the UD faculty in 1990. He served as chairperson of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2001 to 2007, when he was appointed interim dean of the College of Engineering. He was named dean of the college after a national search in 2008.

Chajes has taught classes over the past 20 years in the areas of structural analysis and structural design. He was instrumental in the development of UD's Introduction to Engineering class, which is now taken by all freshmen in engineering. He has supervised 38 master's degree students and four doctoral candidates while at UD, as well as more than 50 undergraduate researchers.

An affiliated faculty member in several research centers on campus, Chajes has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than $5 million of research grants funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Federal Highway Administration, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, the Delaware Department of Transportation, and several industrial groups and foundations. He has published more than 100 papers and presented his work through more than 70 talks in the U.S. and abroad.

Chajes is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE). Within ASCE, he was a member of the Department Heads Council Executive Committee from 2002-2007, serving as chair from 2005-2007. He also served as a member of the committee tasked with planning the summit on the “Future of the Civil Engineering in 2025,” held in 2006, and he has served on the Government Affairs Committee. Within ASEE, Chajes is a member of the Dean's Council, and he currently serves on the Public Policy Committee. He also serves on several national bridge committees.

As a consultant, Chajes has participated in the evaluation and testing of numerous major bridges and structures including the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Goethals Bridge, the Ben Franklin Bridge, the Chesapeake City Bridge, the Summit Bridge, the lock gates on the Erie Canal, and several historic trusses and polymer composite bridges.

In 2010, Chajes was recognized as Delaware Engineer of the Year, in part because of the transformative nature of his contributions as an educator.

Article by Diane Kukich