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Leslie Earl Robertson (February 12, 1928 – February 11, 2021) was an American engineer. He was the lead structural engineer of the Twin Towers of the original
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
in New York City, and served as structural engineer on numerous other projects, including the
U.S. Steel Tower The U.S. Steel Tower, also known as the Steel Building or USX Tower (1988–2001), is a 64-story skyscraper at 600 Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The interior has of leasable space. Standing tall, it is the tallest buil ...
in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
,
Shanghai World Financial Center The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC; , Shanghainese: ''Zånhae Guejieu Cinyon Tsonsin'') is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by the Mori Building Compan ...
, and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.


Early life

Robertson was born on February 12, 1928, in Manhattan Beach, California to Tinabel (née Grantham) and Garnet Robertson. His mother was a homemaker, while his father worked assorted jobs. His parents divorced when he was a child and he was brought up by his father's second wife, Zelda (née Ziegel). He was briefly enlisted in the navy in 1945, at the age of 17. However, he did not serve. He studied civil engineering at
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1952.


Career

Robertson's engineering career began in 1952, when he joined Kaiser Engineering. He worked as a mathematician, structural engineer, and electrical engineer during this time. He was also part of the investigation team studying the collapse of an offshore drilling platform. He later went on a road trip and ran out of funds in Seattle, where he then joined the Seattle-based structural and civil engineering firm Worthington and Skilling in 1958. When Seattle-born American architect
Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward ...
won the competition to design the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
, Robertson and his firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle, and Jackson (WSHJ) got the engineering contract. Designed between 1966 and 1971, this was the firm's and Robertson's first high rise construction. His interactions with Yamasaki led to the conceptualization of the tube design for the buildings with exterior columns that were two feet apart along the building's height, specifically designed to provide a sense of enclosure for people in the building. This also meant that, unlike most skyscrapers of the time that were supported by concrete or steel frames with columns interrupting the interiors, the WTC design permitted column-free interiors, with the weight being handled by the exterior columns and the steel and concrete cores. Steel
trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...
supported the floors and connect exterior columns and the central cores. In 1967 Robertson was made a partner in WSHJ, which was renamed Skilling, Helle, Christiansen, Robertson. The firm split its operations in 1982, with Robertson renaming the east coast operations Leslie E. Robertson Associates RLLP. Robertson would retire from the partnership in 1994, but would continue to work for the firm on projects until 2012. In addition to the World Trade Center, he was involved in structural engineering and design for other skyscrapers, including the U.S. Steel Headquarters in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, the
Shanghai World Financial Center The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC; , Shanghainese: ''Zånhae Guejieu Cinyon Tsonsin'') is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by the Mori Building Compan ...
, and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong designed by the Chinese-American architect
I. M. Pei Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners
( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
, and Puerta de Europa in Madrid. Further, Robertson engineered the building of museums in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
, and
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
in addition to theaters and bridges. Robertson structurally engineered the installation of American sculptor
Richard Serra Richard Serra (born November 2, 1938) is an American artist known for his large-scale sculptures made for site-specific landscape, Urban area, urban, and Architecture, architectural settings. Serra's sculptures are notable for their material q ...
's works. He also helped coordinate the 1978 repair of New York City's
Citigroup Center The Citigroup Center (formerly Citicorp Center and also known by its address, 601 Lexington Avenue) is an office skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built in 1977 to house the headquarters of Citibank, it is t ...
, which had been built with bolted joints that placed it in serious danger of collapse during a high wind. Since the
collapse of the World Trade Center The collapse of the World Trade Center occurred during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, after the Twin Towers were struck by two hijacked commercial airliners. One World Trade Center (WTC 1, or the North Tower) was hit at 8:46&nb ...
in 2001, debates about the safety of rent-space-maximized designs have engaged the building professions, but the consensus among architects and engineers is that the World Trade Center actually withstood the impact of the plane with enough time to allow many thousands of occupants to evacuate safely. Robertson's firm later participated in the development of a database of basic structural information for the towers of the World Trade Center (WTC1 and 2) for NIST and FEMA, and to record the undocumented structural changes that had been made to the buildings after construction began. His firm also stayed for the structural engineering of the
4 World Trade Center 4 World Trade Center (4 WTC; also known as 150 Greenwich Street) is a skyscraper constructed as part of the new World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on Greenwich Street at the southeastern corner of the ...
building which came up at the same complex. File:World Trade Center, New York City - aerial view (March 2001).jpg,
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
,
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City File:Shanghai World Financial Center Far.jpg,
Shanghai World Financial Center The Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC; , Shanghainese: ''Zånhae Guejieu Cinyon Tsonsin'') is a supertall skyscraper located in the Pudong district of Shanghai. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox and developed by the Mori Building Compan ...
, Shanghai File:Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong).jpg,
Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong The Bank of China Tower (BOC Tower) is a skyscraper located in Central, Hong Kong. Located at 1 Garden Road on Hong Kong Island, the tower houses the headquarters of the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited. One of the most recognisable lan ...
File:Torres KIO (37719354701).jpg, Puerta de Europa, Madrid File:Pittsburgh-pennsylvania-usx-tower.jpg,
U.S. Steel Tower The U.S. Steel Tower, also known as the Steel Building or USX Tower (1988–2001), is a 64-story skyscraper at 600 Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The interior has of leasable space. Standing tall, it is the tallest buil ...
,
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...


Personal life

Robertson was married to Elizabeth Zublin and later to Sharon Hibino, with both marriages ending in divorce. He married SawTeen See in 1982, a structural engineer who also has served as managing partner of their architectural engineering practice, Leslie E. Robertson Associates (LERA). Robertson died from multiple myeloma at his home in San Mateo, California, on February 11, 2021, the day before his 93rd birthday.


Books

*


Awards

*1975 Member of the
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
for "contributions in the design of tall buildings and development and application of wind-engineering principles to tall-building design for assurance of safety and comfort of the occupants" *1986 Honorary degree,
Doctor of Engineering The Doctor of Engineering, or Engineering Doctorate, (abbreviated DEng, EngD, or Dr-Ing) is a degree awarded on the basis of advanced study and a practical project in the engineering and applied science for solving problems in the industry. In th ...
, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute *1989 Honorary degree,
Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...
,
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...
*1989 Construction's Man of the Year (now known as the Award of Excellence) by the ''
Engineering News-Record ''Engineering News-Record'' (widely known as ''ENR'') is an American weekly magazine that provides news, analysis, data and opinion for the construction industry worldwide. It is widely regarded as one of the construction industry's most authorita ...
'' for his work developing efficient structural systems and championing
wind engineering Wind engineering is a subset of mechanical engineering, structural engineering, meteorology, and applied physics that analyzes the effects of wind in the natural and the built environment and studies the possible damage, inconvenience or benefits ...
research *1991 Honorary degree, Doctor of Engineering,
Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epi ...
*1993 Mayors Award for Excellence in Science and Technology for contributions to the design of the World Trade Center. World Trade Center Individual Service Medal for contributions to the reconstruction of the World Trade Center following the 1993 bombing. *1993 Gengo Matsui Prize of Japan *2002
Henry C. Turner Prize The Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology is awarded annually by the National Building Museum to recognize outstanding leadership and innovation in the field of construction methods and processes, including engineering de ...
for Innovation in Construction Technology from the National Building Museum *2003 Honorary degree, Doctor of Engineering,
University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...
*2003 ASCE OPAL Award for lifetime contributions to design *2004
IStructE Gold Medal The Gold Medal of the Institution of Structural Engineers is awarded by the Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. The Institu ...
of the
Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. The Institution has over 30,000 members operating in over 100 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation ...
*2004 The Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal from the
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings and sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States ...
for leadership in Structural Design *2006 Distinguished Member of the
American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
*2008 Elevated to National Honor Member of
Chi Epsilon Chi Epsilon () is an American civil engineering honor society. It honors engineering students in the United States who have exemplified the "principles of scholarship, character, practicality, and sociability...in the civil engineering pr ...
national civil engineering honor society *2011
International Award of Merit in Structural Engineering The International Award of Merit in Structural Engineering is presented to people for outstanding contributions in the field of structural engineering, with special reference to usefulness for society by the International Association for Bridge and ...
from the
International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is a non-profit organisation with mission to promote the exchange of knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profess ...
*2012
John Fritz Medal The John Fritz Medal has been awarded annually since 1902 by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements". The medal was created for the 80th birthday of John Fritz, who lived betw ...
from the
American Association of Engineering Societies The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is an umbrella organization of engineering societies in the US, founded by a group of 43 societies in 1979. After several disputes, and a change in focus in the mid-1980s from speaking for t ...
*2015 International Civil Engineering Award from the José Entrecanales Ibarra Foundation


See also

*
Christopher O. Ward Christopher Owen Ward (born 1954) is an American civil servant who served as executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from May 22, 2008, until November 1, 2011, and as New York City Department of Environmental Protecti ...


References


External links


Leslie Earl Robertson, 1928–2021
on the website of Leslie E. Robertson Associates
The New Yorker, November 19, 2001">"The Tower Builder", The New Yorker, November 19, 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Leslie E. 1928 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American engineers 21st-century American engineers Deaths from blood cancer Deaths from multiple myeloma Deaths from cancer in California Engineers from California IStructE Gold Medal winners John Fritz Medal recipients Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering People from Manhattan Beach, California Structural engineers University of California, Berkeley alumni World Trade Center