Joel I Abrams

"Joel Ivan Abrams passed away at age 88 on June 4, 2017, in Delray Beach, Florida, where he made his home with his wife of 64 years, Rosalie. He leaves three sons and daughters-in-law, Jeffrey and Caryl Abrams, Stephen Abrams and Paula Copp, and Lane and Lysbeth Abrams. He will also be missed by his five adored grandchildren, Hana, Rachel, Ivan, Henry, and Max Abrams, in whom he took such joy. Joel and Rosalie settled in Florida after his retirement from the University of Pittsburgh, where he served for many years as chair of the school’s civil engineering department and founding director of its innovative public works program, the first of its type in the US and a model for similar programs worldwide. Joel always made time to teach, touching the lives of many engineering students as a professor at Pitt, and earlier at Yale.

Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, at age 13 Joel joined Boy Scout Troop 192, the Wolf Patrol, and rose to the status of Life Scout. Working his way through high school to save for college meant having to forgo achieving Eagle Scout, but Joel was later so proud to celebrate his three grandsons becoming Eagle Scouts. Joel started working before college, first in a hat factory stamping the manufacturer’s name in gold on leather bands, as an office errand boy, then as a “gofer” in a men’s clothing factory. He also worked in some family businesses, pumping gas and being a cocktail lounge bus boy.

Joel aspired from a young age to be an engineer, first at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, a then all-male high school featuring an engineering curriculum. In 1947, he entered Johns Hopkins University, where he finished his bachelors in civil engineering in just three years. That summer he worked in Washington, DC, for the Public Buildings Administration (now the GSA) on the renovation and reconstruction of the White House. When he was unsuccessful in gaining a permanent government job, Joel accepted a teaching fellowship at Hopkins, the start of a lifelong academic career and passionate commitment to higher education.

Joel completed his masters in structural engineering in 1950, the same year a friend arranged a blind date with a young University of Maryland pharmacy student, Rosalie Helen Greenberg; they married soon thereafter in 1953. Money was tight and after a short honeymoon in the Catskills, they had to take the long way home to avoiding toll bridges as they had spent their last dime. Joel gained practical experience while finishing his education, first as a consulting engineering at Whitman Required, doing drafting, calculations, and designing water and sewer systems, and later at J. E. Greiner Company, doing bridge design, including work on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Delaware Water Gap, and Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Another summer Joel helped design the National Gypsum Factory building. He received his Dr. Engr. in structural mechanics from Johns Hopkins in 1956 with a doctoral dissertation on “Analysis of two and three-dimensional pile foundations including soil restraint.”

After graduation, the family, then including their first son Jeffrey, moved to New Haven, where Joel was first an assistant and later an associate professor of civil engineering at Yale University. During this time, he co-authored two books, Influence Lines for Continuous Beams, with Walter C. Boyer (1958); and Principles of Mechanics of Solids and Fluids, with Hsüan Yeh (1960). The latter, while never widely adopted or commercially successful due to its advanced topic, was highly regarded as the best book on the subject in the English language.

The family moved to Hamden, Connecticut, after their second son Stephen was born. Working nights and weekends, using new and borrowed tools, and with some youthful “help” from Jeffrey, Joel expanded their small house before the arrival of their third son Lane. The family made a big move when Joel was recruited as chair of the department of civil engineering at the University of Pittsburgh at age 37. The family put down lasting roots, making many friendships in the Pittsburgh area. They also joined the Beth El Synagogue and Joel helped survey for a new building, relishing the fieldwork.

Joel greatly enjoyed teaching while serving as chair, and was given a joint appointment as a professor in mathematics as well as engineering due to his innovative finite elements course. When he stepped down as chair in 1988, an Abrams Fellowship was established in his honor to benefit graduate students in civil engineering. The public announcement described Joel as “an institution” to civil engineering alumni, known not only for his excellent administrative skills, but also for his dedication to teaching, scholarship, and his mentoring of hundreds of graduates. His many colleagues and students retain fond memories of attending the many gracious dinners hosted by Joel and Rosalie in their Upper St. Clair home over the years, during which they accumulated a vast and motley assortment of liquors and libations as gifts from students from around the world. Joel was also known for his generosity in sharing the homemade wine he bottled and playfully labeled as originating from the “Smarba” winery.

Joel’s professional activities often took him overseas as a consultant and program evaluator for civil engineering programs at four universities. He worked with the World Bank on environmental challenges in developing countries, and served the United Nations in developing public service training for scientific and technical personnel. He collaborated with physicians emergency first responders to assess the resuscitation potential of victims trapped after major earthquakes in Armenia, Chile, and Japan. Other travels took Joel to Brazil, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, which he always remembered fondly, even though many of the spots he visited were devastated and not typical tourist destinations. During one trip to Chile, Joel could only call Rosalie on a ham radio. During another memorable trip to Chile, the whole family joined Joel during summer vacation, winter in the southern hemisphere.

During summer breaks, Joel, Rosalie, and their boys put many miles on the family cars, towing a pop-up camper, stopping at historic and natural landmarks across the US. Everywhere he visited; Joel sought out and photographed bridges, a lifelong professional and personal fascination. His interest was not only the variety of construction methods and structural designs, but also the aesthetics and setting of each bridge. He also sought out images of beautiful bridges in art museums the family visited.

Joel Abrams was a Distinguished member and Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and held a variety of positions at the local level. He was also active in many other professional organizations, committees, conferences, and symposiums, and he served as an evaluator and consultant to many engineering organizations in addition to publishing numerous reports and articles. In recognition of his dedication and leadership, Joel received the ASCE’s Professor of the Year Award, the Donald C. Stone Award for Excellence in Education from the American Public Works Association, the Distinguished Service Award from the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers, and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Pittsburgh. Joel’s passion for teaching extended beyond the University; he frequently made presentations to local primary and secondary schools. A favorite analogy Joel used to introduce structural engineering to children was that of the ice cream cone, which he described as nature’s perfect container: it is both functional and disposable – when the job is complete, it is totally consumed leaving behind no waste, a model of elegant efficiency.

Joel served as chairman of the jury for the World Environment Center (WEC) Gold Medal for International Corporate Achievement in Sustainable Development from the inception of the award in 1985. After stepping down from serving for 30 years as chair, Joel was recognized for providing unparalleled leadership, rigor and continuity in guiding the independent panel of experts on the WEC Jury in its annual selection process. He was known for his humor and gentle, yet persuasive, leadership, as well as his deep knowledge and foresight in emerging issues in sustainability.

After retiring from Pitt, Joel and Rosalie moved to Delray Beach, Florida, and became snow-birds for a few years. After selling their Pittsburgh home they split their time between Connecticut and Florida. Joel and Rosalie enjoyed their leisure time traveling to Israel and Europe and cruising on big ships and smaller river boats. They became full-time residents of Florida in 2004, when Joel learned to play bridge to keep up with Rosalie in one of her avid pursuits. Joel was also an avid tennis player and although never the most agile player on the court, was known for his excellent eye and precision shots. He continued his love of theater and music concerts, as well as connecting with family and celebrating milestones. His quiet, patient manner, thoughtful leadership, and love of learning will be missed.

Donations honoring Joel should be contributed to the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering."