Eminent Structural Engineer: Prof. Thomas Paulay (1923-2009)

Thomas Paulay, Professor Emeritus of Structural Engineering at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (Fig. 1), died on June 28, 2009 at the age of 86. Tom Paulay was one among the few very great persons, who shaped the enormous progress in science and practice of earthquake engineering in the last few decades in a distinct way. Without exaggeration, we can say that of these few Greats, he had the most significant influence on the art of seismic design of structures. He was a co-founder and so to say the “father” of the theory and method of capacity design. This innovative procedure to achieve a ductile behaviour deeply revolutionized the conceptual design, the calculation and the detailing of structures for earthquake loading and spread to the whole world. Moreover, Paulay's later creative and original contributions to the solutions of other demanding problems, such as the reality-related stiffness of reinforced concrete structures and the nonlinear behaviour and design of buildings with torsion, have strongly impacted the science and professional practice of earthquake engineering. The excellent work of Tom Paulay strongly influenced the European Building Code (Eurocode) and the Swiss Code as well as many other National Codes.