RICHARD L. TOMASETTI, P.E., HON. AIA

Consultant & Founding Principal

Richard L. Tomasetti’s 40 years of experience as a structural engineer includes numerous major projects — from the design of the World Financial Center in New York, to Plaza 66 in Shanghai, the tallest all concrete building in China, as well as working on some of the world’s tallest building: Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Taipei 101 in Taiwan.

He is a recognized investigator of structures in distress and led the firm’s engineering support for search, rescue and clean-up or the World trade Center disaster.

Richard was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2004. Other honors and awards include the 2011 SEAoNY Honor Member, the Eugene M. Smith Technical Writing Award, 2006, the AIA NY Chapter 2006 award, the New York Association of Consulting Engineers 2002 “Engineer of the Year Award,” the 1999 Concrete Industry Board “Leader of Industry Award” and citation by Engineering News-Record in “Those Who Made Marks” for developing the “stressed’ skin” tube structure for high-rise buildings.

Richard is an adjunct professor at Columbia University, and Honors Seminar Faculty member at New York University and an active author and lecturer. He has coauthored the book, “Exposed Structures in Building Design” (McGraw Hill, 1993) and in the Handbook for Architectural Planning and Design (McGraw Hill, 2004), the chapter on protective design of structures in building security. He was the 2008 Fazlur Kahn Lecture Series speaker, “Engineering of Major Architecture, Then and Now” at Lehigh University.

He is a member of advisory boards to Manhattan College, Columbia University, New York University and The Cooper Union, has been chairman of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ committee on tall buildings and a member of New York City’s Seismic Code Advisory board. He is chairman of the Thornton Tomasetti Foundation, board chairman of New York City Urban Assembly Schools, director emeritus of the New York Building Congress, past chairman of the New York Building Foundation and advisor to the Thornton Tomasetti, Inc. board of directors. Richard received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and an honorary doctorate from Manhattan College and a master’s degree in civil engineering from New York University.