Vincent P. Drnevich

Dr. Drnevich is Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. He has distinguished himself in teaching and research in geotechnical engineering. His research interests, including the static and dynamic engineering properties of soils and concrete and the effects of earthquakes on natural and engineered facilities, have neatly dovetailed with the interest of Charlie Pankow and his company in the construction of tall concrete buildings in Seismic Zones 3 and 4.

Vince Drnevich was born in 1940 in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, the oldest in a family of six boys and four girls. His father and grandfather were building contractors. He worked with his father during his high school years, and planned to continue in the trade after graduation. One of his teachers convinced him to attend university, however. He matriculated at the University of Notre Dame, where he received a B.S. degree in civil engineering in 1962. Dr. Harry C. Saxe, one of his instructors, persuaded him to continue his studies at the university. In 1964 Drnevich received a master’s degree in civil engineering.

Dr. Drnevich continued his graduate studies at the University of Michigan. He conducted his dissertation research under the direction of Frank E. Richart, Jr., and received his Ph.D. in 1967. Soon thereafter, he became a licensed professional engineer.

Professor Bobby O. Hardin, a graduate student of Richart’s at the University of Florida, recruited Dr. Drnevich to the University of Kentucky, where he spent the next 24 years of his career. He served four of those years as chair of the department and another year as acting dean. In the latter capacity, Dr. Drnevich played a key role in gaining approval and funding for a new civil engineering building. For most of his time at the university, he served as the faculty adviser to Chi Epsilon, the engineering honorary fraternity. For his dedication and efforts, the University of Kentucky chapter conferred Chapter Honor Member status upon him. The national chapter also recognized him with two awards. As he rose through the academic ranks, Dr. Drnevich received numerous awards for excellence in teaching.

In 1991 Purdue University recruited Dr. Drnevich to become head of the School of Civil Engineering, a position that he held through the 1999–2000 academic year.

Dr. Drnevich has been recognized for his teaching and research by a number of national awards. In 1972 he and Professor Hardin received the Norman Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). In 1980 the ACSE awarded him its Huber Research Prize. In 2002 the Civil Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) awarded him its George Wadlin Award for Distinguished Service. Subsequently, he chaired the ASEE’s Civil Engineering Division. He also has received three awards from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), among them the Richard E. Ladd Standards Development Award, in 2004, for research that resulted in ASTM Standard D 6780 for Water Content and Density of Soil by Time Domain Reflectometry. Dr. Drnevich is also a fellow and life Member of ASCE and a fellow of ASTM.