faculty.Henry Petroski

Henry Petroski, Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor

Henry Petroski received his bachelor's degree from Manhattan College in 1963 and his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1968. Before coming to Duke in 1980, he had taught at the University of Illinois and the University of Texas at Austin and was a group leader at Argonne National Laboratory, where he was responsible for research and development efforts in fracture mechanics. He is a professional engineer registered in Texas, and a chartered engineer registered in Ireland.

Professor Petroski's current research activity focuses on the areas of failure analysis and design theory. Ongoing projects include the use of case histories to understand the role of human error and failure in engineering design as well as the development of models for invention and evolution in the engineering design process. His research has been sponsored by the Corps of Engineers, the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and other organizations, and he has published over seventy refereed journal articles in such places as International Journal of Fracture, Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Journal of Applied Mechanics, Structural Safety, and Research in Engineering Design.

Professor Petroski is author of the book, To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design (1985), and is the writer and presenter of the 1987 BBC-television documentary, "To Engineer Is Human," which has been broadcast on PBS. He is also the author of The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance (1990), The Evolution of Useful Things (1992), Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering (1994), Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and The Spanning of America (1995), Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing (1996), and Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering (1997). The Book on the Bookshelf (1999), Paperboy: Confessions of a Future engineer (2002), Small Things ConsideredL Why There Is No Perfect Design (2003), and Pushing the Limits: More Adventures in Engineering (forthcoming in 2004), and he writes the engineering column for American Scientist and a bimonthly column on the professor for ASEE Prism. He also lectures widely and is interviewed frequently on radio and television.

Among his honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship (1990-1991), honorary degree from Clarkson University (1990), Trinity College (1997), Valparaiso University (1999) and Manhattan College (2003), the Ralph Coats Roe Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1991), and the Civil Engineering History and Heritage Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (1993). He is the recipient of a Centennial Award as an Outstanding Engineering Graduate of Manhattan College (1992) and an Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from the College of Engineering of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1994). Professor Petroski is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Education

• Ph.D. Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1968
• MS Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1964
• BME Manhattan College, 1963

Professional Experience

• Vesic Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, l993-Present
• Professor of History, Duke University, 1995-present.
• Chairman, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, 1991-2000.
• Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, 1987-1993
• Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, 1981-1986.
• Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, 1980-1987
• Mechanical Engineer and Group Leader, Argonne National Laboratory, 1975-1980
• Assistant Professor, Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, University of Texas at Austin, 1968-1974
• Registered Professional Engineer, TX
• Chartered Engineer, Institution of Engineers of Ireland

Sample Publications [complete publication list]

Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996.

Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.

Design Paradigms: Case Histories of Error and Judgment in Engineering. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994.

The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.

To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985.

Courses Taught

• EGR 25L. Introduction to Structural Engineering
• EGR 49S. Freshman Engineering Great Projects Seminar

Honors and Awards

• Tau Beta Pi, Eminent Engineer (2003)
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow (2003)
• Honarary Doctor of Pedagogy Degree, Manhattan College (2003)
• Honorary Member, The Moles (2002)
• Fellow, The Institution of Engineers of Ireland (2000)
• Honorary Doctor of Science degree, Valparaiso University (1999)
• Eminent Speaker, Institution of Engineers, Australia, Structural College (1998)
• Tetelman Fellow, Jonathan Edwards College, Yale University (1998)
• Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.) (1997)
• Member, National Academy of Engineering, inducted 1997
• Orthogonal Medal, Graphic Communications Faculty, North Carolina State University (1996)
• Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers (1996)
• Alumni Honor Award for Distinguished Service in Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1994)
• Civil Engineering History and Heritage Award, American Society of Civil Engineers (1993)
• Outstanding Graduate, School of Engineering Centennial Award, Manhattan College (1992)
• National Lecturer, Sigma Xi (1991-93)
• Ralph Coats Roe Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1991)
• Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Foundation (1990-91)
• Honorary Doctor of Science degree, Clarkson University (1990)
• Fellow, National Endowment for the Humanities (1987-88)
• Fellow, National Humanities Center (1987-88)
• Illinois Arts Council Literary Award (1976)
• Sigma Xi (Illinois Chapter) Graduate Student Paper Award, (1968)
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Teaching Fellowship (1963-64)

Professional and Service Activities

• National Academy of Engineering, Member
• American Society of Civil Engineers, Fellow
• Institution of Engineers of Ireland, Fellow
• The Moles, Honorary Member
• American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Member
• American Society for Engineering Education, Member
• Society for Industrial Archaeology, Member
• Society for the History of Technology, Member
• Sigma Xi, Member
• National Research Council, Panel on Science, Technology, and Law
• National Academy of Engineering, Steering Committee on the Engineer in 2020
• American Society of Civil Engineers, History and Heritage Committee, Chairman

Current and Ongoing Research

• Failure analysis
• Design theory
• Engineering case histories