W. Samuel Easterling, professor and department head of the Charles Edward Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, recently presented the Montague-Betts Professor of Structural Steel Design lecture.
The Montague-Betts Professorship of Structural Steel Design was endowed by William E. “Ping” Betts Jr., who received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architectural engineering from Virginia Tech. He is the co-founder of the Montague-Betts Co., a structural steel fabricator.
Betts, 97, is a resident of Lynchburg, Va., so Easterling and members of the CEE department and the College of Engineering traveled to Lynchburg for the presentation. Members of the Betts’ family were also present for the luncheon event.
Easterling credited Betts who funded the professorship in 1984 with providing the impetus to build the structural program area within CEE. The professorship was used to attract Tom Murray, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, to Virginia Tech from his position with the University of Oklahoma in 1987.
Murray then founded Virginia Tech’s Structures and Materials Laboratory, where he and his graduate students developed alternate methods for connecting beams and columns in buildings in areas that experience high levels of seismic activity. His research and teaching interests include steel connections, pre-engineered building design, and light gage design. Murray retired last year, although he still maintains an office in Patton Hall.
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors conferred the professorship on Easterling at its April 2009 meeting.
Easterling is acknowledged to be one of the leading researchers in composite floor systems, and his work has positively impacted numerous national design codes. He has published approximately 100 papers and reports since joining the faculty, and he directed or co-directed nearly $3.6 million of external research funding across more than 60 research grants and contracts.
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