Leslie E. Robertson

Robertson was born on February 12, 1928, in Manhattan Beach, California to Tinabel (née Grantham) and Garnet Robertson. His mother was a homemaker, while his father worked assorted jobs. His parents divorced when he was a child and he was brought up by his father's second wife, Zelda (née Ziegel). He was briefly enlisted in the navy in 1945, at the age of 17. However, he did not enter active duty. He studied civil engineering at University of California, Berkeley and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1952. ==Career==

Robertson's engineering career began in 1952, when he joined Kaiser Engineering. He worked as a mathematician, structural engineer, and electrical engineer during this time. He was also part of the investigation team studying the collapse of an offshore drilling platform. His interactions with Yamasaki led to the conceptualization of the tube design for the buildings with exterior columns that were two feet apart along the building's height, specifically designed to provide a sense of enclosure for people in the building. Robertson would retire from the partnership in 1994, but would continue to work for the firm on projects until 2012. Since the collapse of the World Trade Center in 2001, debates about the safety of rent-space-maximized designs have engaged the building professions, but the consensus among architects and engineers is that the World Trade Center actually withstood the impact of the plane with enough time to allow many thousands of occupants to evacuate safely. Robertson's firm later participated in the development of a database of basic structural information for the towers of the World Trade Center (WTC1 and 2) for NIST and FEMA, and to record the undocumented structural changes that had been made to the buildings after construction began. His firm also stayed for the structural engineering of the 4 World Trade Center building which came up at the same complex. File:World Trade Center, New York City - aerial view (March 2001).jpg|World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York City File:Shanghai World Financial Center Far.jpg|Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai File:Bank of China Tower (Hong Kong).jpg|Bank of China Tower, Hong Kong File:Torres KIO (37719354701).jpg|Puerta de Europa, Madrid File:Pittsburgh-pennsylvania-usx-tower.jpg|U.S. Steel Tower, Pittsburgh ==Personal life==

Robertson was married to Elizabeth Zublin and later to Sharon Hibino, with both marriages ending in divorce. Robertson died from multiple myeloma at his home in San Mateo, California, on February 11, 2021, the day before his 93rd birthday. == Books ==

• 1975 Member of the National Academy of Engineering for "contributions in the design of tall buildings and development and application of wind-engineering principles to tall-building design for assurance of safety and comfort of the occupants" • 1986 Honorary degree, Doctor of Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute • 1989 Honorary degree, Doctor of Science, University of Western Ontario • 1991 Honorary degree, Doctor of Engineering, Lehigh University • 1993 Mayors Award for Excellence in Science and Technology for contributions to the design of the World Trade Center. World Trade Center Individual Service Medal for contributions to the reconstruction of the World Trade Center following the 1993 bombing. • 2002 Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology from the National Building Museum • 2003 Honorary degree, Doctor of Engineering, University of Notre Dame • 2003 ASCE OPAL Award for lifetime contributions to design • 2004 IStructE Gold Medal of the Institution of Structural Engineers • 2004 The Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat for leadership in Structural Design • 2006 Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers • 2008 Elevated to National Honor Member of Chi Epsilon national civil engineering honor society • 2011 International Award of Merit in Structural Engineering from the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering • 2012 John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Societies • 2015 International Civil Engineering Award from the José Entrecanales Ibarra Foundation ==See also==