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EMILIO ROSENBLUETH
1 926-1 994
WRITTEN BY LUIS ESTEVA
SUBMITTED BY THE NAE HOME SECRETARY
IN THE EMMY MORNING of Manual 11, 1994, ended the life of an
exceptional man, after an outstanding career in engineering
research and practice in Mexico, rich in contributions of
international relevance.
Emilio Rosenblueth was born in Mexico City in 1926. In
1948 he graduatecI as a civil engineer from the National Au-
tonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and in 1951 he
obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois. His
dissertation contains contributions to the analysis of structur-
al response, which still today, more than forty years later, form
part of the criteria recommended for the practice of earth-
quake-resistant design.
Upon his return to Mexico from Illinois, he spent several
years working as a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of
UNAM, and as a structural designer at the Federal Commis-
sion of Electricity. At the same time, he starter! his career as a
consulting engineer. He was appointed professor of the
School of Engineering at UNAM in 1954 en cl researcher at the
Institute of Engineering of the same university upon its open-
ing in 1956. He acted as director of that institute from 1959 to
1966 and remained a member for the rest of his life, with the
exception of the period 1977-1982, when he was uncler-minis-
ter of educational planning at the Ministry of Public Education
219
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
of Mexico. From 1966 to 1970 he split his time at UNAM
between the activities of scientific research and the responsi-
bilities of dean of science.
From the start of his career, Emilio remained at the
forefront of research in earthquake engineering and structural
reliability in the world. His influence on the development of
these areas was decisive because of both the value of his own
contributions and the impact they hacI on the work of other
researchers. His work is characterizes! by his ability to identify
new relevant problems, define them conceptually, formulate
rational frameworks for their analysis, evaluate
importance through the use of simplified models preserving
tne essential features of the detailed ones, and present his
conclusions in forms useful both to those who would apply
them in the practice of structural engineering or in the
formulation of recommendations, and to those who wouIct
take them as starting points for new research programs. His
work was always valuable by itself and for the ideas it sowed.
Emilio was a world leacler in the development of the
probabilistic theory for the analysis of seismic response of
linear systems, as well as of simplified models, based on that
theory, which form the basis of criteria applied in the practice
of earthquake-resistant design of complex systems. This
encompasses his contributions to the methods for seismic
response analysis of multi-degree-of-freedom systems, of
systems with in-plan eccentricities, and of slender structures,
such as chimneys. Equally valuable, because of their simplicity
and their practical relevance, are the methods and criteria he
proposer! for taking into account the simultaneous action of
several earthquake-grouncl-motion components.
The first high-intensity earthquake to affect Mexico City af-
ter several tall buildings were constructed occurred in 1957.
Emilio played a prominent role in updating the Mexico City
Builcling Code, in particular its earthquake-resistant-clesign
chapter, where he introduced a number of innovative con-
cepts, many of which were incorporates! later on in the
regulations for earthquake-resistant structures of the most ad
.. . . ,~
evaluate
their
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EMILIO ROSENBLUETH
221
vanced countries. Shortly after this, he developed a probabilis-
tic model for studying the influence of soft soil, such as the
clay formation in the Valley of Mexico, on the characteristics
of earthquake ground motion.
Even during his days as under-minister of educational
planning for the Ministry of Education, he found reason and
time to formulate conceptual mathematical models of
problems that appear when making decisions under uncertain
conditions. His ideas about the processing of doubtful
information and the combination of expert opinions in
decision making belong to this time. Those ideas crystallized
some time later in published articles. A large number of
articles of analysis and dissemination about education in
general and problems specific to that field in Mexico were
also produced during those years. At the end of 1982, Emilio
resumed his career as a full-time researcher.
Emilio was not only a researcher capable of identifying the
essence of the problems, studying them, and solving them.
The profoundness and rigor of his work did not keep him
away from the world of practical criteria and simple formulas.
On the contrary, everything he produced would end up mod-
ifying a norm, furnishing a new tool for everyday work, or
changing the ways of looking at a practical problem; and he
did not leave all applications to others. He was the author of
several innovative structural systems that helped in obtaining
efficient solutions to important engineering problems.
Most of Emilio's professional work as a structural designer
and as a consultant in this and related specialties took place at
DIRAC, a leading group of consulting engineering firms in
Mexico City, of which he was one of the founders in 1956, its
general director from 1956 to 1970, and its president from
1970 to 1977. Many outstanding projects in Mexico and
abroad benefited from his unusual ability to grasp the most
relevant theoretical and practical problems, from his clear and
wide vision, and from his decided drive to optimize. His in-
volvement in practice was the source of a fertile interaction
with his research programs, as well as with his participation in
building code revisions.
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
He was always guided by the same rule of action, optimizing
for society. Thus, he felt compelled to know and understand
other disciplines besides engineering in his search for the in-
formation and tools needed to solve the problems that the
real world posed to him. He understood the need of research-
ers to isolate themselves in the laboratory or in their
mathematical models, the problems they want to solve; but he
taught us that engineers, on the contrary, must understand
the interactions occurring among nature, men, and engineer-
ing works if they are to achieve their goal of optimizing. But
optimizing implies assigning values to the possible conse-
quences of those interactions as they are affected by
engineering decisions. This takes an engineer to the study of
the values ot ~na~v~duals and societies, of their preferences
and their attitudes in the face of uncertainty and risk. In the
search for information, tools, and social values an engineer
interacts with specialists in diverse disciplines: mathemati-
cians, geophysicists, and sociologists, among others; an
engineer learns from them and contributes to their fields.
Emilio's work as an educator is also outstanding. Very few
have known how to stimulate their students as well as he did
with new problems and novel ideas. He let them do their jobs
and forced them to make use of all their resources and capa-
bilities. Those who worked with him will not forget the
challenges he made them face and the profit derived from
having overcome those challenges.
In 1976 Emilio was designated an honorary member of the
American Concrete Institute and an honorary foreign mem-
ber of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; in 1977,
an honorary member of the International Association for
Earthquake Engineering; in 1982, an honorary member of the
American Society of Civil Engineers. In 1970 he was elected to
the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and in 1977 the Na-
tional Academy of Engineering, both as a foreign associate
member. He was a member of the National Research Coun-
cil's Division of Engineering Committees on Earthquake
Engineering Research, Ground Motion Panel (1966-1969) and
the Structural Synthesis and Design Panel (1967-1969~; the
.. . . . .. . . .
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EMILIO ROSENBLUETH
223
Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, Commit-
tee on Reliability Methods for Risk Mitigation in Geotechnical
Engineering (1992-1993~; and the international liaison repre-
sentative to the U.S. Committee for the Decacle for Natural
Disaster Reduction (1989-1991~.
Emilio was the recipient of a large number of national and
international awards. To name a few among the Mexican
awards, he received the Research Award of the Mexican Acaci-
emy of Scientific Research in 1963, the National Science Awarcl
in 1974, and the UNAM Award in Physical Sciences in 1986.
The international awards he received include the Walter L.
Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize in 1965, the Moisseiff
Award in 1966, the Alfrec! M. Freudenthal Medal in 1967, and
the Nathan M. Newmark Medal of the American Society of
Civil Engineers in 1987; the Prince of Asturias Prize offered by
the King of Spain in 1985; and the Bernardo A. Houssay Inter-
Arr~erican Science Prize from the Organization of American
States in 1988. In 1987 he was designated emeritus professor
of UNAM. A few weeks before his death he received from the
hands of the president of Mexico the National Engineering
Award, granted by the Organization of Civil Engineers of Mex-
ico (Colegio de Ingenieros Civiles de Mexico).
To enumerate the positions held by Professor Rosenblueth
in the scientific and professional organizations of Mexico and
the rest of the world, the actions he carried out, the groups
with which he collaborated, and the fruits he left would be an
exhausting job. His work will endure in the daily work of many
who devote their efforts to putting science and technology at
the service of mankind, in particular those who strive to devel-
op and apply criteria and methods to make optimum use of
the resources of society for human safety en cl well-being.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
civil engineers
