MAJR Medal

McGuire Award for Junior Researchers

The “McGuire Award for Junior Researchers” (MAJR Medal) has been established in honor of the late William “Bill” McGuire, a long-term member of SSRC who always emphasized that state-of-the-art research is instrumental to improve the quality of stability design (e.g. see this wonderful paper from 1988). Having served on the faculty at Cornell University for over fifty years, he was the author of the well-known textbooks Steel Structures and Matrix Structural Analysis. Bill was a member of the American Institute of Steel Construction’s Committee on Specifications, and among the honors he received were the AISC T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award, the ASCE’s Shortridge Hardesty Award, and the SSRC’s Lynn S. Beedle Award. In recognition of his many research and educational contributions to the structural engineering profession, Bill was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering.

A candidate for the 2023 MAJR Medal must submit their application to SSRC by June 23, 2023. At that date, he/she must meet the following criteria:

Member of SSRC
Holder of a PhD degree in a stability related topic obtained within the past ten years
Have presented at least one paper at an SSRC Annual Stability Conference after obtaining their PhD degree
Have not previously received the MAJR Medal

The award selection will be based on the research activity of the candidate in a period not exceeding nine years after obtaining their Ph.D. degree¹.

The application must be sent by e-mail to SSRC Headquarters, at ssrc@aisc.org, and shall consist of (i) a letter stating the intention to apply for the 2023 MAJR Medal, (ii) a detailed account of the candidate’s research activity during the period under consideration (in CV format), (iii) proof of the date of completion of the PhD and title of the thesis (for instance, a copy of the PhD diploma/certificate or the PhD dissertation title page showing committee signatures and date of completion), and (iv) a link to a folder containing five of the candidate’s published papers (if the candidate has fewer than five published papers, all papers listed in the CV should be included).

The 2023 MAJR Medal will be presented at the 2024 SSRC Annual Stability Conference, and the recipient of the award is expected to present an invited paper/lecture on their recent research activity at that conference. The award committee may decide to also recognize an “Honorable Mention”, which will consist of a certificate signed by the SSRC Chair.

The award committee is appointed by the SSRC Executive Committee. The decision of the award committee, which will be final, shall be announced no later than September 1, 2023. The award committee may decide that none of the candidates is worthy of the MAJR Medal.

¹Concerning publications, those that will be considered must have a date of effective publication, as defined by the journal issue/volume or the conference date, comprised between the date of completion of the PhD degree and nine years after that date. Journal or conference papers accepted for publication won’t be considered.

Winners of the MAJR Medal