Engineer Recognized as Distinguished Alumnus

Marquez Knolls resident Dr. Robert E. Englekirk has been awarded the UCLA Civil Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award. An internationally recognized expert and leader in the field of Structural Engineering, Englekirk was recognized for his innovative work with reinforced concrete.

Currently, he serves as the Chairman Emeritus of Englekirk Institutional, a company he founded in 1969.

At 18 years old, a bike ride through a post-WWII Paris inspired a notable career, including projects like Getty Center in Brentwood, the Hollywood/Highland Project, and the tallest concrete building in California located at 3rd and Mission in San Francisco.

“I saw France rebuilding and I was inspired to see people creating structures that people would enjoy for years to come,” he said.

While teaching graduate courses in concrete and steel design at UCLA, USC, and UC San Diego, Englekirk has been instrumental in paving the way for many innovations in precast concrete construction and the use of high strength concrete.

“I loved teaching – the kids and their enthusiasm,” he said. “The students really wanted to learn. It was their dedication and enthusiasm that made it so enjoyable.”

Englekirk also sits on the Industry Advisory Board of the Robert and Natalie Englekirk Structural Engineering Research Center at UCSD, which features the world’s largest outdoor shake table, and the Institutional Board of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center at UC Berkeley – named after he and his wife of 52 years, Natalie.

A Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) and a member of the Los Angeles Tall Building Structural Design Council, Structural Engineers Association of California, and Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Englekirk has published several leading textbooks in his field.

His many accomplishments to the profession have been recognized with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Construction Industry Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, the PCI Medal of Honor in 2007, the ACI Alfred E. Lindau Award in 1983, the ACI Henry C. Turner Award in 1985, and the outstanding alumnus award from Tulane University in 1997.