Frank Baron

Who was Frank Baron?

Frank Martin Baron served as professor of civil engineering at University of California, Berkeley and held an international reputation as an expert in the fields of bridge and roof-structure design, and seismic and wind analysis. He was twice the recipient of the prized Leon S. Moisseiff Award issued annually by the American Society of Civil Engineers, and among his manifold professional affiliations, served as chairman of the US Council of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering.

Baron’s research interests traced the current of cutting-edge theory in civil engineering design and construction. As an undergraduate architecture and engineering student and masters-level graduate student in structural engineering at the University of Illinois, Baron had the privilege of studying under two premier names in engineering design: H.M. Westergaard, known for his research on the use of reinforced concrete for pavement and dams, and Hardy Cross, an undisputed authority on contemporary structural frame analysis. He formed lasting bonds with both of these scholars, later reuniting with Westergaard at Harvard and Cross at Yale.