Lin, T. Y. (Tung Yen), 1911-

Tung-Yen Lin (b. Fuzhou, China Nov. 14, 1911), was professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley and an eminent and pioneering engineer in the arena of prestressed concrete and in the design and construction of long-span bridges. He died in El Cerrito, California on November 15, 2003.

From the description of T.Y. Lin papers, 1932-1998. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 52235626

Biography

T.Y. (Tung Yen) Lin (b. Fuzhou, China November 14, 1911), is professor emeritus at University of California, Berkeley and an eminent and pioneering engineer in the arena of prestressed concrete and in the design and construction of long-span bridges.

Although Lin was interested in studying philosophy and letters, his father was successful in steering him towards a career in engineering. After earning his Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering at Chiaotung University in Tangshan, China (1931), Lin completed his Masters degree at Berkeley in 1933. From 1933 to 1945, he served as Chief Design Engineer and Chief Bridge Engineer of Chinese Railways and completed over 1000 bridges in rugged, mountainous regions of China. In 1941, he married Margaret Kao and the two came back to California in 1946 at the invitation of University of California, Berkeley, where he assumed a position as professor of civil engineering. A popular lecturer, he was known for his ability to teach engineering both at the conceptual and the detail level. He held chairmanships of the Structural Engineering Division and the campus-wide Board of Education Development and served as director of the Structural Engineering Laboratory at Berkeley. His excellence as a professor and administrator earned him the Berkeley Citation, status as a Berkeley Fellow, and, in 1994, Alumni of the Year, the highest honor of the California Alumni Association.

Lin founded TY Lin International, a consulting engineering firm that employs over 500 people in more than 5 countries, in 1954. Upon his resignation from TY Lin International in 1992, he founded the Lin Tung-Yen China Company in California. His most famous projects had their birth at TY Lin International, and include the Puente Rio Colorado, an upside-down suspension bridge across a deep gorge in Costa Rica; the Ruck-a-Chucky Bridge, a 45( angled, cable hung bridge over the North Fork of the American River in California; his plans to bridge the Gibraltar Strait, uniting Europe and the continent of Africa; and the development of the Pudong District of Shanghai. Perhaps his most famous project, though never constructed, is the Intercontinental Peace Bridge (ICPB). Lin's dream-to bridge the United States and the Soviet Union across the Bering Strait-brought him international praise for promoting peace, communication and understanding between nations as well as providing a method of economic development for the rich natural resources of the region.

His efforts with the ICPB were especially significant in light of the arms race and Cold War that raged during the life of the project. Although the urgency of the project lessened as relations between the United States and Soviet Union improved and interest in developing the region waned (the project dissolved in 1996), President Ronald Reagan conferred the National Medal of Science upon Lin in 1986. In recognition of his excellence in bridge building and prestressed concrete, Lin was awarded the American Consulting Engineers Council Award of Merit (previous recipients include to Herbert Hoover and Dwight D. Eisenhower), the coveted Freyssinet Medal from the International Federation for Prestressing, the Prix Albert Caquot from the French Association of Construction and was elected a member both of the Chinese Academy of Science and of the National Academy of Engineers. He has earned four honorary doctorate degrees in the US and in China.

From the guide to the T.Y. Lin papers, 1932-1998, (The Bancroft Library)