James K. Wight (BS ’69, MS ’70, Civ Egr) has been elected president of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for 2012-13.
Wight, the F.E. Richart, Jr. Collegiate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Michigan, is well known for his work in earthquake-resistant design of concrete structures. His most recent research has concentrated on the use of high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete composites for earthquake-resistant design of critical members in concrete structures. He has been involved with post-earthquake damage studies following earthquakes in Mexico, Chile, Armenia, Egypt, California, Japan, and India.
Wight has been an active ACI member since 1973 and was named a fellow of the institute in 1984. He is the immediate past chair of the Structural Concrete Building Code Committee 318. ACI has previously honored him with the Delmar L. Bloem Distinguished Service Award, the Joe W. Kelly Teaching Award, the Arthur J. Boase Award, the Alfred E. Lindau Award, the Chester Paul Siess Award for Excellence in Structural Research, and the Wason Medal for the Most Meritorious Paper in 2010. He has also received distinguished alumnus awards from the civil and environmental engineering departments of Michigan State University and the University of Illinois.
