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T U N G -Y E N L I N
1911–2003
Elected in 1967
“For theory and use of prestressed concrete.”
BY KARL S. PISTER, ALEXANDER C. SCORDELIS,
AND EDWARD L. WILSON
T UNG-YEN LIN, a visionary structural engineer whose
pioneering work was internationally acclaimed, died at his
home in El Cerrito, California, on November 15, 2003, one day
after his 92nd birthday.
Born in Foochow [Fuzhou], China, on November 14, 1911,
Lin was the fourth of 11 children of Supreme Court Judge Ting
Chang Lin and Feng-Yi Kuo Link. Soon after Lin’s birth, the
family moved to Beijing, where he was home-schooled until
he was 12. He completed his precollege education at Hwei
Wen American Methodist School and earned his bachelor’s
degree in civil engineering from the Jiao Tong University Tang
Shan Engineering College in 1931. That same year he began
graduate studies in civil engineering at the University of
California (UC), Berkeley, where he received his master’s
degree in 1933. His thesis on direct moment distribution, an
important contribution to structural analysis, was the first
student thesis published by the American Society of Civil
Engineers.
Lin then returned to China and began working for the
Chinese Ministry of Railways. He quickly moved up the ranks,
and by the age of 25, he was chief bridge engineer of the
Chongqing-Chengdu Railway, responsible for the survey,
design, and construction of more than a thousand bridges
throughout China. In 1941, he married Margaret Kao, whom
he had known for a decade.
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130 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
Five years later, UC-Berkeley offered Lin an appointment
as assistant professor of civil engineering, signaling the
beginning of his memorable career of academic and professional
accomplishment. Professor Lin was an extraordinary man who
had a deep love for UC Berkeley. During his tenure, he was
chair of the Division of Structural Engineering and Structural
Mechanics and director of the Structural Engineering
Laboratory from 1960 to 1963. For the 1968–1969 academic
year, he was appointed campus-wide Professor of Arts and
Science, an honorary appointment to advance interdisciplinary
teaching. From 1969 to 1970, a turbulent time on campus, Lin
chaired UC Berkeley’s Board of Educational Development.
From his earliest days at Berkeley, Lin was willing to
teach students at all levels. He initiated new, innovative
courses, including courses on the design of long-span bridges
and large arenas. An exuberant teacher, his enthusiasm for his
subject and his energetic ideas captured the interest of both
engineering and architecture students. Even after his
retirement, he continued to lecture at the university, fascinating
and inspiring students into the twenty-first century.
In 1957, Professor Lin conceived the idea of a holding a
world congress on prestressed concrete in San Francisco. An
advisory committee was formed, but some of the members
were apprehensive about the undertaking; they were finally
swayed by Lin’s boundless enthusiasm. Leading figures in this
new technology from Europe and Asia were invited, and, in a
bold move at the time, since the cold war was at crisis level,
the committee also invited a delegation from Russia. The
week-long congress at the Fairmont Hotel atop Nob Hill was
attended by about 1,200 people, many more than the 500 who
were expected. The congress was a great success!
In Lin’s address welcoming the participants, he presented
his now-famous parody contrasting Shakespeare’s seven ages
of man with the seven ages of prestressed concrete. He stated
we were then in its youth with a long and brilliant future
ahead. In this, Lin was truly prophetic, and he, himself, was a
key figure in making his prophecy come true.
The next, year, the advisory committee was invited to visit
Russia, a year before the first cultural exchanges began. The
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TUNG-YEN LIN
Russian premier at the time, who was determined to rebuild
housing and infrastructure, especially in Moscow and
Leningrad, had selected precast, prestressed concrete as the
principal building material. During the visit, close professional
and personal relationships were established with our Russian
colleagues.
Lin’s perception that technology could be a means of
diplomacy led him to undertake an even more ambitious
project—establishing friendly relations between China and
the United States. Lin suggested to his former comrades in
China that they invite him to visit, the first such technical
exchange. Up to that time, the only exchanges had been of
ping-pong players. Lin’s wife, Margaret, and his daughter
were invited to accompany him. Although Lin had been asked
to give only five lectures, he actually delivered more than 20
during his month-long trip to Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou,
Guilin, and Guangzhou. The Lin’s homecoming was celebrated
by a gathering of their widespread families from many parts
of China.
Lin’s experience in China reinforced his belief that
technology could transform political relations. He then
conceived his boldest project yet, his now-famous International
Peace Bridge across the Bering Strait, bringing together the
Soviet Union and Alaska and the rest of the United States. The
bridge captured the imagination and fired the hopes of people
around the world. Although the bridge was technically
feasible, it was economically impractical and was never built.
Nevertheless, it was a huge symbolic success.
Lin conceived of a number of brilliant structures—
cantilevered and hyperbolic roof spans extending out over
space, tall buildings, and unique bridges—many of them
beyond the state of the art at the time. He often sketched his
initial ideas on the back of an envelope while flying home from
a technical meeting; he would then present them to his
colleagues and suggest how analysis and design could proceed.
His most remarkable idea was the Ruck-a-Chucky Bridge in
California, a curved, cable-stayed bridge hung from two
mountainsides. Unfortunately, it has not yet been built,
although, like the International Peace Bridge, it fired the
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132 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
imaginations of bridge architects and engineers worldwide. In
his many lectures to engineering groups around the world,
Lin always conveyed his positive outlook and enthusiasm,
inspiring his audience to work creatively with new materials
and to approach engineering, a visionary art, in a spirit of
creativity.
Beyond his professional career, Lin was an ardent supporter
of UC Berkeley. The Lin family and the T. Y. Lin Foundation
endowed the T. Y. and Margaret Lin Chair in Engineering,
assisted in the establishment of a structural engineering
lecture-demonstration laboratory, and endowed fellowships
in both structural engineering and architecture.
Among the many honors and awards celebrating Lin’s
professional achievements are election to the National
Academy of Engineering, the 1986 National Medal of Science,
Institute Honor Award of the American Institute of Architects,
and the Fressinet Medal of the Fédération Internationale de la
Précontrainte. Professor Lin also held the distinction of
Honorary Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers,
the American Concrete Institute, and the Prestressed Concrete
Institute.
T. Y. Lin is survived by his wife Margaret, son Paul, daughter
Verna, and five grandchildren—Deanna, Katie, and Erik Lin
and William and Maxim Lin-Yee.
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