Obituary: Nabih Youssef, 80, Pioneered Performance-Based Seismic Design

Structural engineer and founder of Nabih Youssef & Associates, who died July 12, is remembered as the "consummate professional"

Nabih Youssef- Nabih Youssef & Asssociates.jpg

Structural engineer Nabih Youssef pioneered the use of base isolation in seismic design in buildings such as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Hall, Broad Museum in Los Angeles and the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills.

Photo courtesy Nabih Youssef & Associates

Nabih Youssef, a leading California-based structural engineer and seismic design expert who was a pioneering advocate for the use of steel plate shear walls in areas of high seismic risk, died on July 12. He was 80.

As the founder, chairman and CEO of his eponymous firm Nabih Youssef & Associates, he was a revered expert in 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 special achievement by the American Institute of Steel Construction. Its incorporation of base isolation in the construction of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles after a previous structure was damaged beyond repair in an earthquake earned Youssef and the company recognition from ENR in 2006, as Top Seismic Project of the 20th Century.

Youssef gave “generously of his knowledge and wisdom” to the AEC industry, said Institute President Charles J. Carter in a statement.

The author of numerous technical papers and lectures on seismic engineering for high-rise buildings, Youssef chaired the seismic safety committee for the California Building Standards Commission and the seismic hazard reduction committee City of Los Angeles. He also was involved in special programs for the Building Seismic Safety Council, part of the National Institute of Building Sciences in Washington D.C.

“He helped make the California design process quicker for the whole state and actually for the entire country,” said John Hooper, director of earthquake engineering at Magnusson Klemencic Associates, who first met Youssef in the 1990s when he was recruited to help develop state earthquake codes and standards.

“What we were doing in California effectively affected the majority of the country,” said Hooper.

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 in Los Angeles, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, and a new hospital set for completion in 2030 at the University of California-San Francisco's Parnassus Heights campus, among others.

“He was not only a very profound technical engineer that we all admired, but a consummate professional,” said Hooper.

Emell Derra Adolphus has more than a decade of writing and journalism experience. He is senior editor of ENR’s Top Lists and Survey Rankings at ENR magazine and frequently contributes stories on technology, climate resiliency, diversity, equity and inclusion.

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