The Grainger College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Michael Kreger

Michael Kreger
Michael Kreger (BS 79, MS 81, PhD 83)
Garry Neil Drummond Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering (Ret.)
University of Alabama

CEEAA Distinguished Alumni Award, 2026

For an exceptional career of scholarly leadership and service distinguished by more than four decades of influential research, teaching, and professional engagement in civil engineering; for pioneering large scale experimental research that advanced the understanding and design of earthquake resistant reinforced, prestressed, and post tensioned concrete structural systems and directly informed national design codes and specifications; for sustained leadership and involvement in industry organizations; and for an enduring commitment to educating and mentoring future engineers through support of student organizations and the instruction and guidance of thousands of graduate and undergraduate students worldwide.

Biography

Michael Kreger received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1979, 1981, and 1983.  During his 42-year academic career he held faculty positions at The University of Texas at Austin, Purdue University, and the University of Alabama.  Dr. Kreger retired in August as the holder of the Garry Neil Drummond Endowed Chair in Civil Engineering.  During his academic career he was actively engaged in a diverse research program investigating the behavior of earthquake-resistant concrete building systems, dual-plate composite shear walls, repair and strengthening methods for non-ductile frame systems, and behavior of pre- and post-tensioned bridge systems.

He is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute and an active member of ACI 318 - Structural Concrete Building Code, ACI 352 - Joints and Connections in Monolithic Concrete Structures, and ACI 133 - Disaster Reconnaissance.  He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the ACI Structural Journal and previously served on ACI’s Board of Direction and Technical Activities Committee (TAC).

Dr. Kreger received the Concrete Research Council Arthur J. Boase Award for his significant research achievements in earthquake-resistant concrete building systems and precast prestressed concrete bridge components, and for continued contributions to ACI technical committees.  Two of Kreger’s 100+ technical publications have been awarded the T.Y. Lin Award from ASCE.