The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has awarded CEE at Illinois professor Billie F. Spencer Jr. the 2018 Nathan M. Newmark Medal “for pioneering work, innovations, and leadership in the theory and application of advanced technologies to fundamental problems in structural engineering and mechanics, as well as for his unwavering commitment to education/mentoring of students and professional service.”
Spencer is the Nathan M. and Anne M. Newmark Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering, and has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in structural engineering and mechanics since joining the CEE at Illinois faculty in 2002. His research interests are primarily in the areas of smart wireless sensor technology, damage detection and health monitoring, structural control, stochastic fatigue, stochastic computational mechanics, earthquake engineering and civil engineering applications of information technology.
The Nathan M. Newmark Medal, which is given annually by ASCE, was established by the Engineering Mechanics and Structural Institutes to honor Nathan M. Newmark for his outstanding contributions in structural engineering and mechanics. According to ASCE, the Newmark Medal is given to “a member of the Society who, through contributions in structural mechanics, has substantially strengthened the scientific base of structural engineering, these contributions having been made in the form of papers or other written presentations.”