Ross Corotis News

A chat with Ross Corotis — life beyond "retirement"

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Dec 2023 17:40:28 +0000

A chat with Ross Corotis — life beyond "retirement" Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 12/04/2023 - 10:40

Susan Glairon

Ross Corotis hiking with his daughter in California in 2023.

Ross Corotis (R) with his former doctoral student. Holly Janowicz, and CEAE Professor Yunping Xi on their 2016 research exchange trip with Tongji University in China.

Professor Emeritus Ross Corotis retired in Feb 2022, after five decades as a leading researcher, professor and college dean, with 28 of those years spent at CU Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. CU Boulder recently caught up with Professor Corotis to chat about his "retirement." Read on to see what he's been doing. (Hint: he's keeping busy!)

How has your retirement differed from your working years?
The beauty of being a professor lies in the flexibility it offers, and in retirement that flexibility expands. This newfound freedom allows me to indulge in more hikes and personal pursuits. I play tennis once or twice a week and go to the gym, and I don’t work as many hours as before retirement.

But it’s crucial for our minds not to come to a standstill in retirement. Consequently, service has become a significant focus for me. When I chaired the Committee for the National Academies to review the facility needs of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) last year, it was close to a half-time job. Although not precisely my specialty, the role demanded someone capable of navigating a diverse group of people with different expertise. We ultimately advocated for $6.6 billion in funding for NIST to Congress and the President’s offices. I also chaired the NIST committee that reported to Congress on the Champlain Towers condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida.

This type of professional service requires a technically oriented, scientifically informed individual to assess needs, and I find immense satisfaction in that.

What else have you been involved in?
I’ve been invited to be a final reviewer for the Texas Association of Engineering Science and Medicine, assessing the state’s top researchers and providing a broader perspective, such as on the societal impact of the project. It’s similar to my previous experience as a science advisor to the State Department, where the focus extended beyond my specific research area. These broader roles allow me to contribute an overarching perspective as a technically-oriented individual.

Currently, I’m reviewing a paper for publication in the International Journal of Structural Safety. It’s in my research specialty area, and for a decade I served as editor of that journal. So again, I feel good about being able to contribute. Those things don’t pay, but at this point, it doesn’t matter.

It sounds like you’re still involved in research, too.
Research provides me with the chance to apply my expertise to real-world problems. I might sit down one day and spend five or six hours working out equations; on days that I don’t feel like doing it, I don’t. That’s the flexibility. And I was fortunate to receive a research grant this year to investigate building live loads.

I’m preparing a paper now with my last PhD student for the World Conference on Earthquake Engineering next summer in Milan, Italy, and it feels good to be part of a technical community. This student doesn’t necessarily have to be my last PhD student. I can advise as an emeritus professor, however acquiring funding for PhD students can be challenging in emeritus status. I am always open to co-advising students if someone else secured the funding and asked me to co-advise.

How have your research interests over the years changed?
Early on my research was very narrow focused and very mathematical. Then over the years, I became interested in a broader picture. We civil engineers create physical facilities to serve society, but our first thoughts are the physical facilities. In the later stages of my research, I've been fortunate to have the time and opportunity to explore societal aspects, such as why does society need this facility? What does it do for society? Is this facility the right thing in the long term?

What are you proudest of in your career?
I never let my job take me away from my family. When I started as an assistant professor at Northwestern University, I made a decision to be true to myself, to work in a way that aligned with my values.

Being a part of the National Academy of Engineering is also a source of great pride.They elect about one structures professor per year nationwide.

I’m especially proud that I founded the civil engineering department at Johns Hopkins University and that they established an endowed chair in my name.

Why should young people consider civil engineering as a career?
As people drive around, they witness tangible outcomes — roads and bridges crafted by civil engineers. Yet concepts like “resilience” don't hit their minds right away. It’s our responsibility and opportunity to educate and inspire our students about these concepts.

This is why I've broadened my interests to make our societal contributions more exciting for young people. In discussions with students, I emphasize the social aspects of our work, contributing to a better community and lifestyle. It’s crucial to convey that civil engineers don’t just design structures; we shape how society moves and the overall benefit it brings.

Professor Emeritus Ross Corotis retired in February 2022, after five decades as a leading researcher, professor and college dean, with 28 of those years spent at CU Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. We recently caught up with Professor Corotis to chat about his "retirement."

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Ross Corotis retiring from CU Boulder

Anonymous — Tue, 08 Mar 2022 21:42:21 +0000

Ross Corotis retiring from CU Boulder Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/08/2022 - 14:42

Jeff Zehnder

After five decades as a leading researcher, professor, and college dean, Ross Corotis is retiring.

His career includes stretches at Northwestern and Johns Hopkins universities, but he has spent the last 28 years in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering at the �鶹��Ƶ.

Department faculty recently voted to honor him as a professor emeritus.

“I love what I do. I love the teaching especially and I love research, but this is my 51^st year as a professor,” Corotis said. “When I started my career as an assistant professor at Northwestern, the official retirement age was 67 and I thought, ‘Wow, that sounds old.’ Now I’m 77, and I thought I should let others take over. It’s better to leave when you’re still excited.”

As a child, Corotis always knew he wanted to be an engineer. As early as age three, he remembers enjoying tinkering, putting things together and taking them apart to see how they worked. In high school, he decided on a future in civil engineering and applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Coming from the east coast, my first choice was MIT,” Corotis said. “I was put on the waiting list, but eventually was accepted and graduated No. 1 in the department. I’m still very proud of that because they don’t put the top prospects on the waiting list.”

Probabilities and Structural Reliability

He would go on to earn his master’s and PhD from MIT, all in civil engineering. His research then and now was focused in mathematical probability and structural reliability. He has made significant contributions to the field and was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2002, in part for his work on new methods of reliability assessment and optimization of structures.

“When I started out, building codes didn’t use probabilities at all,” Corotis said. “Engineers didn’t want to know about failure. They petitioned against using probability. Now people accept it. They understand there are tradeoffs in society, and we have to evaluate those risks and decide how much money to put in to ameliorate them.”

Corotis spent nine years at Northwestern before being offered a position at Johns Hopkins University to create a department of civil engineering.

“They needed civil engineering, and how often do you get to go to a great university and form a department?” he said.

Within 10 years, civil engineering at Johns Hopkins was the second-highest-ranked engineering program at the university, behind only their famed biomedical engineering program.

Coming to Colorado

In 1994, Corotis received a phone call from CU Boulder.

“I had no thought of moving, but they said they were looking for a new dean and I was recommended, and they asked if I would come out for an interview,” Corotis said.

He was unsure. He enjoyed his work at Johns Hopkins and had a daughter in high school and a son in college. But his daughter encouraged him to apply, telling him, “Go for it, Dad,” and he was offered the position. At that point, her stance shifted.

“She was disappointed and I said, ‘Remember you told me to go for it,’ And she responded, ‘Yes dad, but I never thought you’d get it’,” Corotis said.

She eventually came around, and the Corotis family relocated to Colorado.

New Facilities and Research

He joined the university as dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science and led the college from 1994-2001. During that time, he pushed through changes to give faculty more time for research.

“The campus rule was faculty had to teach four courses a year, but we looked at leading engineering schools around the country, and it was clear to me if we were going to move up to where we belonged, to really be a Tier 1 research institution, we needed to allow faculty more time for research,” Corotis said.

He reduced faculty teaching loads to three courses per year, which still stands today.

The Gallogly �鶹��Ƶy Learning Center building

He also led the effort to construct the Gallogly �鶹��Ƶy Learning Center, rallying campus officials, private donors, and the Colorado Legislature to fund the building.

“It was based on the idea that when students come to a research university, they should be able to benefit from the research of the faculty, not just from classroom teaching,” Corotis said. “The concept of learning by discovery is a special opportunity at a great research university. When we went to the legislature, they were so excited that they appropriated money for the program plan and for construction in one vote. They hadn’t done that in modern history. Typically it would take two years.”

Award Winning Educator

In 2001, Corotis stepped down as dean and resumed his civil engineering teaching and research. Since that time, he has presented 65 conference papers, published 41 journal articles, and led six research grants, graduating 12 master’s students and five PhD students.

In 2006, he received the Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence in Teaching and Pedagogy award for his work in teaching and mentoring students, and in 2019 he earned the American Society of Civil Engineers OPAL Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Education.

Keith Molenaar, acting dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at CU Boulder, praised Corotis’ work as an educator and engineer.

“Ross Corotis has been a leader throughout his career, not only for the �鶹��Ƶ, but for our profession and our nation,” Molenaar said. “His research has advanced concepts of structural safety and reliability and our understanding of probabilistic concepts and decision perceptions for societal tradeoffs for hazards and the built infrastructure. Ross has been an inspiration to our college and our profession.”

Engineer For Life

Although Corotis is stepping back from the university, he is still is engaged with engineering. In addition to continuing advising duties with a doctoral student, he is leading a review of the National Institute of Standards and Technology capital facilities and is serving as chair of a congressionally chartered committee that evaluates building failures.

“The committee just started on the Champlain Towers condominium collapse in Florida,” he said. “After 9/11, Congress created the National Construction Safety Team Act to investigate major structural failures to determine what went wrong and what we can do better.”

Corotis is also eager to spend more time traveling with his wife, to visit family and explore new places.

“We love to travel,” he said. “I’ve always been envious of people who could go on vacation in September. It’s after the summer rush, and before it gets cold. COVID has interfered, but we’ll see.”

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