Special Awards

SEAOI recognizes individual contributions to the field of engineering and to our organization with three special awards, given annually at our Awards Dinner: the John F. Parmer Award, the SEAOI Service Award, and the Young Engineer Award.

Nominations for the 2018 special awards are now being accepted. Read the 2018 Call for Entries for more information.

Special Awards will be presented at our Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday, June 9, 2018, which will be held at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in downtown Chicago.

John F. Parmer Award

John F. Parmer, a structural engineer, was one of the seven founders of SEAOI. In 1965 he, along with Frank Wells and Ken Naslund, came to talk to Nissim Eskenazi and George Ellis about starting a structural engineers association in Illinois. They were joined by Henry Miller and Frank Cooper. Within a very short period of time, SEAOI was founded. John F. Parmer became the first executive director and he, as well as his wife Chris, spent many hours working for SEAOI at 173 W. Madison Street in Chicago.

In the spring of 1977, at age 88, Mr. Parmer’s health began to fail and he found it necessary to retire from SEAOI. In June of that year, SEAOI presented him with an award, the first John F. Parmer Award, for service to the profession. When Mr. Parmer passed away in the fall of 1977, his son, John C. Parmer, and daughter-in-law, Carolyn Noonan Parmer, wanted to remember him by doing something special, on his behalf, for structural engineers. Therefore, in his honor, they presented SEAOI with a check for $500.00 to fund a John F. Parmer Award, honoring a structural engineer whose distinguished career was acknowledged by their peers to be an example of excellence.

John C. Parmer passed away in September, 2005. His family continues to support the John F. Parmer Award as they have done for more than 30 years. Both SEAOI and the Structural Engineers Foundation gratefully acknowledge the Parmer family’s longstanding support of the structural engineering profession.

John F. Parmer Award Recipients

2015     Ron Klemencic
2014     German R. Gurfinkel
2013     Burton A. Lewis
2012     Ian R. Chin
2011     Robert A. Halvorson
2010     John (Jack) E. Barrett
2009     D. Stanton Korista
2008     Chris Stefanos
2007     Mike Tylk
2006     Charles H. Thornton
2005     John M. Hanson
2004     Ralph S. Peck
2003     Mete A. Sozen
2002     John J. Zils
2001     Chester P. Seiss
2000     Jack Janney
1999     R. Shankar Nair
1998     Kolbjorn Saether
1997     W. Gene Corley
1996     Nissim I. Eskenazi
1995     Clyde N. Baker, Jr.
1994     Eli W. Cohen
1993     Dr. Sidney A. Guralnick
1992     Srinivasa “Hal” Iyengar
1991     Leslie E. Robertson
1990     William J. Hall
1989     Eivind Hognestad
1988     Richard A. Parmelee
1987     Fazlur Rahman Khan (posthumous)
1986     Narbey Kachaturian
1985     Nicholas A. Bilandic
1984     Harry Stavrides
1983     Harold R. Sandberg
1982     Edward S. Hoffman
1981      Walter E. Hanson
1980     Alfred Benesch and Carl Metz
1979     Max Zar
1978     John Gnaedinger

SEAOI Service Award

This award is given to individuals for outstanding contributions to SEAOI or to the profession of structural engineering in the State of Illinois. It is intended to be given to a person in the design, construction, or related field, who has achieved outstanding success and distinction in his or her career, and who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of structural engineering.

The candidate must be active in his or her field or retired for not more than two years. The is no limit to the number of awards nor to the time span between awards. Candidates for this Award do not have to be members of SEAOI, nor be a structural engineer.

SEAOI Service Award Recipients

2015     Laurence J. Dietrick
2014     David R. Bibbs
2013     Thomas F. McCluskey
2012     Bruce S. Kaskel
2011     Roger H. Reckers
2010     David Gustafson
2009     Carl F. Peterson
2008     Deborah Zroka
2007     Jon Boyd
2006     John J. Zils
2005     William D. Bast
2004     Larry R. Meyers
2003     Bryan Erler
2002     Benjamin R. Baer
2001     James J. Powers
2000     Frank Montana
1999     Michael Tylk
1998     William L. Lavicka
1997     Harry B. Kuchma
1996     Nancy L. Gavlin
1995     Timothy J. Kilberg
1994     Dr. W. Gene Corley
1993     Robert B. Johnson
1991     Robert W. Gerstner
1990     Clyde N. Baker, Jr.
1979     Joseph F. Fitzgerald

Outstanding Young Engineer Award

In 2008, SEAOI introduced an Outstanding Young Engineer Award to recognize a Young Engineer (aged 35 or younger) who is recognized by his or her peers for outstanding achievements in structural engineering. SEAOI members are invited to nominate their colleagues for this honor.

Outstanding Young Engineer Award Recipients

2015     Johann Aakre
2014     Brian Dekker; Christine Freisinger
2013     Sudhir Singamsethi
2012     Andrew Keaschall
2011     Nick Triandafilou
2010     Eric Fenske
2009     Robert Stadler
2008     James Pawlikowski