Venkatesh K. R. Kodur

Venkatesh K. R. Kodur
Born	Kodur, Karnataka, India
Residence	Michigan, United States of America
Nationality	American Canadian Indian
Alma mater	Queen's University Bangalore University National College
Known for	Structural engineering, Structural fire engineering, Fire resistant design, High performing construction materials, post-fire investigations.
Awards	University Distinguished Professor Award, AISC Faculty Fellowship Award, Distinguished Faculty Award, NRCC (Govt, of Canada) Outstanding Achievement Award, Canadian Academy of Engineering, NATO Award for collaborative research
Scientific career
Fields	Structural fire engineering, Fire safety, Fire resistance evaluation
Institutions	Michigan State University, Queens University, University Visveswaraya College of Engineering, National Research Council (Canada)
Doctoral advisor	Ivan Campbell, Queens University, Canada
Website	https://www.egr.msu.edu/kodur/
Notes
Distinguished Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University

Venkatesh Kumar R Kodur, born in Kodur village in India, received his bachelor's degree in Civil engineering from the University Visveswaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore, India, in 1984. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from Queen’s University, Canada, in 1988 and 1992, respectively.^[1] Following a brief stint as a Post-doctoral Fellow at Royal Military College, Kingston, Canada, he joined the National Research Council (Canada), where as senior scientist, he carried out research in structural fire safety field. In 2005, he joined the faculty of Michigan State University (MSU), where he is currently a University Distinguished Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Kodur has established unique fire test facilities and highly acclaimed research program in structural fire engineering area at MSU and is the founding director of the Center on Structural Fire Safety and Diagnostics.^[2]

Prof. Kodur is an internationally recognized scholar for his contributions in structural fire engineering field.^[3] His research has focused on the experimental behavior and analytical modeling of structural systems under extreme fire conditions, Constitutive modelling of material properties at elevated temperatures, Fire resistance design of structural systems, and Building collapse investigations. His contributions to the field of structural fire safety and high performing construction materials are seminal and numerous, and his research accomplishments have had major impacts. He has developed fundamental understanding on the behavior of materials and structural systems under extreme fire conditions. The techniques and methodologies resulting from his research is instrumental for minimizing the destructive impact of fire in the built infrastructure, which continues to cause thousands of deaths and billions of dollars of damage each year in the U.S. and around the world. Many of these design approaches and fire resistance solutions have been incorporated in to various construction codes and design standards in the U.S. and around the world.

Dr. Kodur has advised around 23 postdoctoral researchers, 24 Ph.D. students, 26 M.S. students and number of undergraduate students over the last 20 years.^[4] Many of his (former) PhD and postdoctoral students are currently faculty members in reputed universities throughout the world. Dr. Kodur, together with his students and collaborators, has published results from his research in 375+ peer-reviewed papers in journals and conferences, and has given numerous key-note presentations in major international conferences. He is one of the highly cited authors in Civil Engineering and Fire Protection Engineering disciplines, and as per Google Scholar, he has more than 8500 citations with an "h” index of 52.

Dr. Kodur’s contributions to the Civil Engineering and Fire Protection Engineering professions have been recognized by peers through prestigious honors and awards. He has been elected as Fellow of five Institutes/Academies: Canadian Academy of Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers, Indian National Academy of Engineering, Structural Engineering Institute, and American Concrete Institute. He is a professional engineer, Associate Editor of Journal of Structural Engineering, and Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, editorial board member of five leading journals, Chairman of ASCE-29 (Fire) Standards Committee, and a member of UK-EPSRC College of Reviewers. He has won many awards including Michigan State University University Distinguished Professor Award, American Institute of Steel Construction Faculty Fellowship Award, MSU Distinguished Faculty Award, NRCC (Government of Canada) Outstanding Achievement Award, AISC Faculty Fellowship Award, and NATO Award for collaborative research. Dr. Kodur was part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency/American Society of Civil Engineers "Experts Team" that investigated the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings as a result of September 11 attacks.

International awards

• University Distinguished Professor Award, 2017 ^[5]
• Selected for “MSU President’s report”, 2016
• "Fellow" of Structural Engineering Institute, SEI (ASCE), 2013
• “Foreign Fellow" of Indian National Academy of Engg., INAE, 2012
• University Distinguished Faculty Award, MSU, 2011^[6]
• Outstanding Achievement Award for "External Partnership", NRCC, 2010
• "Fellow" of Canadian Academy of Engineering, CAE, 2009
• AISC Faculty Fellowship Award, AISC, 2007
• "Fellow" of American Concrete Institute, ACI, 2007
• Elected "Fellow" of American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, 2005^[6]
• Outstanding Public Awareness Award, NRCC, 2003
• The Lorne W Gold "Best Publication (Research Paper)" Award, NRCC, 2002
• Best Public Awareness Award, IRC/NRCC, 2002
• Outstanding Achievement Award for "Best Research Project", NRCC, 2000
• George Sedan Award for Innovative Solutions, NRCC, 1998
• NATO Award for Collaborative Research, NATO, 1996

References