Nabih Youssef, alCalifornia-based structural engineer and seismic design expert who was a pioneering proponent of the use of steel plate shear walls in areas of high seismic risk, died on July 12. He was 80 years old.
As the founder, president and CEO of his eponymous firm Nabih Youssef & Associates, he was a revered expert in the development of earthquake engineering codes and standards. The firm’s work on the 52-story LA Live project, which used an innovative steel shear wall system, was cited in 2010 for a special achievement by the American Institute of Steel Construction. His incorporation of base insulation in the construction of The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles after an earlier structure was irreparably damaged in an earthquake earned Youssef and company recognition from ENR in 2006, as Top seismic project of the 20th century.
Youssef gave “generously of their knowledge and wisdom” to the AEC industry, he said Institute President Charles J. Carter in a statement.
The author of numerous technical articles and lectures on seismic engineering for high-rise buildings, Youssef chaired the seismic safety committee of the California Building Code Commission and the seismic hazard reduction committee of the City of Los Angeles. Youssef also participated in special programs for the Building Seismic Safety Council, part of the National Institute of Building Sciences in Washington DC.
“It helped make California’s design process faster for the entire state and, in fact, the entire country,” said John Hooper, director of earthquake engineering at Magnusson Klemencic Associates, which met Youssef for the first time in the 1990 when he was recruited to help develop state earthquake codes and standards.
“What we were doing in California effectively affected most of the country,” Hooper said.
Hooper added that Youssef’s legacy is “already sealed” with his pioneering portfolio of structural design work in California, which includes Los Angeles City Hall, the Broad Museum of Los Angeles, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills and a new hospital that will be completed in 2030. at the University of California-San Francisco Parnassus Heights campus, among others.
“He was not only a very deep technical engineer that we all admired, but a consummate professional,” Hooper said.
