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M AR I O G. SALVA D O R I
1907–1997
Elected in 1983
“For innovative contributions to the design and analysis of shell and
high-rise structures and methods of numerical analysis in engineering.”
BY MATTHYS P. LEVY
MARIO SALVADORI, an inspired teacher, writer, and
consultant, and the developer of a motivational, hands-on
approach to teaching young people the rudiments of how
structures work, died on June 25, 1997.
When Mario was born, in Rome on March 19, 1907, the doctor
warned his parents that, because of his low birth weight, the
baby might not survive. Ninety years later, marshalling his
indomitable spirit, Mario was still teaching and writing. Reared
in Genoa and Spain, he had hoped to become an orchestra
conductor, and when he was 18, he established Italy’s first jazz
band. His father, who was an engineer, dissuaded the young
man from pursuing a musical career. Instead, he earned two
doctorates, one in mathematics and one in engineering.
Always ready for adventure, Mario was an avid mountain
climber. He was known in the mountaineering press as the
“Lion of the Mountain” for opening 27 new routes in the
Dolomites, barely surviving a serious fall in the process. Part
of the challenge for Mario was defying his father who often
forbade him to climb, but who, in the end, was justly proud of
his son. When Mario was in his eighties, he and I had to visit
the sculptor Alexander Lieberman to look at a recent work being
assembled in central Connecticut. I offered to fly to Connecticut
myself and meet Mario, then fly him home to an airport close
to his weekend house. It was a warm day, and the air was not
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234 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
very stable. After we took off, Mario reminded me not to fly
too high where the air was very thin, because it would not be
good for his heart. That meant we had to fly in constant
turbulence for the short 45 minutes we were in the air. Although
we were jostled about, Mario was a good sport, and we landed
safely—only on the second try, however, because I was a little
nervous about ferrying my illustrious passenger. When Mario
alighted, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was somewhat green
but glad to be alive.
Following his graduation from the University of Rome with
doctorates in both civil engineering and pure mathematics,
Mario spent a year in London studying photoelasticity. During
that time, he came into contact with a number of refugees from
Nazi Germany and came to realize that Mussolini’s fascism was
not far behind Hitler’s and that it would be wise to leave Italy.
Thanks to the intervention of Enrico Fermi, the Salvadori
family—Mario and his first wife Giuseppina—was able to
immigrate to the United States.
After working in a number of temporary jobs, including
production-efficiency engineer for the Lionel Train Company,
Mario was offered a substitute position at Columbia University
in mechanical engineering. This soon became a permanent
position in civil engineering when the war reduced the number
of available instructors. Mario proved to be an inspired teacher
and remained at Columbia for 50 years; he was named “best
teacher” in 1962 and was honored with other prestigious
awards. His students never forgot Mario’s enthusiastic, clear
presentations. Now scattered around the world, they remain
his greatest advocates and legacy.
Mario developed a lecture curriculum in architectural
structures, which he taught at Princeton University from 1954
to 1959 and then in the School of Architecture at Columbia. In
1965, when the School of Architecture was in disarray, Mario
stepped in and started a program in architectural technology.
He introduced new courses describing structural principles in
qualitative terms without resorting to mathematics. The courses
were supplemented with six films showing experiments and
demonstrations that illustrated those principles. The “Structure
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MARIO SALVADORI
in Architecture” program was a big hit and became the
centerpiece of a popular new way to introduce the concepts of
structure to non-engineers. The program was also the basis for
a book with the same title.
In 1943, while at Columbia, Mario was asked to participate
in a classified project, which, he learned later, was the Manhattan
Project to develop a nuclear bomb. Mario’s participation was
purely technical and dealt with only one of the components of
the ancillary structures, not with the bomb itself. It did, however,
present him with a conundrum, because, although he supported
the defeat of fascism, he was basically a pacifist. In the 1960s,
however, he had no conflict, when during the Vietnam War
and in support of his moral convictions, he actively participated
in protests against the war and in support of nuclear
disarmament.
In 1955, when he met and later joined with Paul Weidlinger
to establish one of the leading consulting engineering firms in
the country, Mario entered a new phase of his multicareered
life. Several of his former students joined him as the firm grew.
At first, Mario specialized in the design of concrete thin-shell
structures and structures that could survive a nuclear attack.
The scope of the consulting work soon included forensic
engineering and the design of major structures. Mario continued
as a principal in the firm until his retirement in 1992.
While he was still at Columbia, and for the rest of his career,
Mario was involved in forensic investigations that often led to
his testifying as an expert in court cases. He found forensic work
to be both challenging and an opportunity to extend his natural
ability as a teacher to the court room. A natural showman, he
loved to spar with attorneys who tried to trip him up and often
cited Newton as justification for an opinion. In one case, early
in his career, he was asked to evaluate whether an individual
had committed suicide by jumping out of a high-rise window
or whether he had fallen accidentally. By invoking the laws of
physics, Mario demonstrated the difference between a free fall
with only vertical velocity and a jump that involved horizontal
velocity as well. Based on where the body landed, he proved
that the fall was accidental and earned the gratitude of the
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236 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
widow who was able to collect on her husband’s insurance
policy. That case became a landmark that has been cited in
similar situations.
A supremely ethical person, Mario was always careful to
inform potential forensic clients that he was only concerned
with the truth, even if it were to damage the client’s case. In
such situations, however, Mario recused himself rather than
cause his client embarrassment.
In the late 1950s, there were changes in Mario’s personal life.
He divorced his first wife and married Carol Kazin, becoming
a father to her son, Michael, as well as his own son, Vieri. A
perpetual humanist, Mario was not only a pianist with modest
talent but also a translator into Italian of his beloved Emily
Dickinson. He also lent his special insight into Joyce’s Ulysses
by lecturing students and colleagues or anyone who would
listen, of the importance of this work and its significance as
literature and a reflection of the times (upon his death, Umberto
Eco eulogized him as a poet as well as an engineer). Mario’s
ability to present ideas clearly in the classroom was translated
to paper when he started the first of his 15 books, five on
mathematics and 10 on structures. The last books were written
specifically for a lay audience, especially young people with
whom Mario had developed a special bond. I was privileged
to co-author five of his books, including Why Buildings Fall Down
(W.W. Norton & Co., 1994), which remains popular to this
day.
Of his many honors, Mario often said, if you live long
enough, you will be rewarded, because they, that is various
institutions, will run out of other people to honor. He received,
of course, many honors from many institutions, including the
Pupin Medal for outstanding service to the nation from the
Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association in 1991, the
Topaz Medallion from the American Institute of Architects in
1993, and the Founders Award from NAE in 1997 “for
accomplishments that benefited the people of the United
States.”
In 1976, Mario began teaching a course on “Why Buildings
Stand Up” to junior high school children in East Harlem. This
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MARIO SALVADORI
started him on a new career to motivate young people to
appreciate mathematics and physics through a hands-on
understanding of the built environment. He was tremendously
successful at explaining complex structural concepts using real-
world examples of how bridges and skyscrapers are built.
Eventually, his methodology was formalized into a curriculum,
and Mario taught teachers and developed a manual outlining
his approach. Today, the Salvadori Center, a non-profit
organization, continues to promote and expand the methodology
Mario pioneered. The “kids” became his passion, and Mario
continued teaching them to the end. Had he not died on June
25, 1997, he would certainly still be using his bag of toys to teach
his “kids” whom he loved and who loved him in return.
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