Jerome F. Hajjar holds a B.S. (Yale University 1982) in engineering mechanics, and an M.S. (Cornell University 1985) and Ph.D. (Cornell University 1988) in structural engineering. He has been on the faculty of the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois since 2005. Prior to joining the University of Illinois, he was a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota from 1992 to 2005. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, Dr. Hajjar was a structural engineer and associate at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill in their New York and Chicago offices from 1988 to 1992. He also served as the UPS Foundation Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University in 2000-2001.

Dr. Hajjar has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in structural analysis, structural dynamics, and design of steel and composite steel/concrete structures. He has received several teaching awards, including the Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik Undergraduate Faculty Award in 1996 and 1997, the 1998 Taylor Career Development Award, and the 2001 Charles E. Bowers Faculty Award at the University of Minnesota.

From 2005-2007, Dr. Hajjar served as the Deputy Director of the Mid-America Earthquake (MAE) Center, a National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center.  He is on the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Committee on Specifications and its Task Committees on Composite Construction; Stability; and Loads, Analysis, and Systems, for which he is vice-chair; he led the editing of the AISC Commentary for the 2005 AISC Specification; he was on the Building Seismic Safety Council (BSSC) Provisions Update Committee and the BSSC Task Subcommittee 11 on Composite Construction; he was the chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Structural Engineering Institute Technical Administrative Committee on Metals; he was the chair of the ASCE Technical Committee on Load and Resistance Factor Design; and he was the 2005 President of the ASCE Minnesota Section.  Dr. Hajjar was awarded the 2000 ASCE Norman Medal, the 2003 ASCE Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, the 2004 AISC Special Achievement Award, and the 2005 AISC T. R. Higgins Lectureship Award and the 2009 ASCE Shortridge Hardesty Award for his research on steel and composite construction.  Dr. Hajjar is also a registered professional engineer in Illinois and Minnesota.