1. Introduction

Leslie Earl Robertson (born February 12, 1928) is an American engineer. He was the lead structural engineer of the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center in New York City .^[1] He has since been structural engineer on numerous other projects, including the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.

2. Career

Robertson's engineering career began in 1952, when he graduated from the Berkeley school of civil engineering with a bachelor of science degree and joined Kaiser Engineering. In 1958 he joined the Seattle structural and civil engineering firm Worthington and Skilling. As an "up-and-coming engineer", Robertson was selected by Worthington, Skilling, Helle, and Jackson (WSHJ) to participate in the design of the World Trade Center Twin Towers (1966–1971), his first high rise construction.^[2] In 1967 Robertson was made a partner and WSHJ was renamed Skilling, Helle, Christiansen, Robertson. The firm split its operations in 1982 with Robertson renaming the East Coast office Leslie E. Robertson Associates R.L.L.P.^[3]

Robertson's firm participated in the development of a database of basic structural information for the towers of the World Trade Center (WTC1 and 2) for NIST and FEMA^[4] and to record the undocumented structural changes that had been made to the buildings after construction began.

Since the collapse of the World Trade Center, debate about the safety of rent-space-maximized designs have engaged the profession, but most would agree that the design of the World Trade Center actually withstood the impact of the plane with enough time to allow many thousands to evacuate safely.^[5]

3. Education

• 1952 Bachelor of Science, University of California, Berkeley
• 1986 Honorary degree, Doctor of Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
• 1989 Honorary degree, Doctor of Science, University of Western Ontario
• 1991 Honorary degree, Doctor of Engineering, Lehigh University
• 2003 Honorary degree, Doctor of Engineering, University of Notre Dame

4. Awards

• 1975 Member of the National Academy of Engineering for "contributions in the design of tall buildings and development and application of wind-engineering principles to tall-building design for assurance of safety and comfort of the occupants."^[6]
• 1989 Construction's Man of the Year (now known as the Award of Excellence) by the Engineering News-Record for his work developing efficient structural systems and championing wind engineering research.^[7]
• 1993 Mayors Award for Excellence in Science and Technology for contributions to the design of the World Trade Center. World Trade Center Individual Service Medal for contributions to the reconstruction of the World Trade Center following the 1993 bombing.
• 2002 Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology from the National Building Museum
• Gengo Matsui Prize of Japan
• 2003 ASCE OPAL Award for lifetime contributions to design.^[8]
• 2004 IStructE Gold Medal of the Institution of Structural Engineers^[9]
• 2004 The Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat for leadership in Structural Design.^[10]
• 2006 Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers^[11]
• 2008 Elevated to National Honor Member of Chi Epsilon national civil engineering honor society
• 2012 John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Societies^[12]
• 2015 International Civil Engineering Award from the José Entrecanales Ibarra Foundation^[13]