News Detail

ACI Renames Annual Award Given to Outstanding Educators

3/9/2022

The American Concrete Institute has memorialized University of Illinois Prof. Clyde E. Kesler by renaming an annual award given to outstanding educators in the field of concrete materials and structures.  The ACI Clyde E. Kesler Education Award is a renaming of the ACI Joe W. Kelly Award that had been given annually since 1975 to a long list of ACI members.  

Professor Emeritus Kesler (BS 43, MS 46) served on the faculty of the departments of both Civil Engineering and Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the late 1940s until his retirement in 1982.  Nationally recognized as "The father of the concrete canoe," Kesler started the phenomenon of concrete canoe racing in the 1970s with a class project. In 1977, Kesler was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering, the highest honor that can be accorded to an engineer.  In 1967 he was elected president of the American Concrete Institute, the youngest individual to hold that post up to that time.  He died December 30, 2011. 

The ACI Clyde E. Kesler Education Award was established by the initiative and financial support of University of Illinois Professors David A. Lange, Neil Hawkins, and Frances Young who fondly recall Clyde’s friendship, leadership, and impact on the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

More information regarding the ACI Awards Program may be found at concrete.org.

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For more information, contact:

Jose Carrasco, Marketing
jose.carrasco@concrete.org
248-848-3160

Always advancing – The American Concrete Institute is a leading global authority for the development, dissemination, and adoption of its consensus-based standards, technical resources, and educational, training, & certification programs. Founded in 1904, ACI is headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA, with a regional office in Dubai, UAE, and a resource center in Southern California. Visit concrete.org for additional information.