Mario George Salvadori was born on March 19, 1907, in Rome, Italy. His father was Riccardo Salvadori, an engineer working for the telephone company and later the head of a gas and electric company in Spain. Salvadori was supported also by his mother, Ermelinda Alatri. Salvadori earned both civil engineering and mathematics doctoral degrees from the University of Rome in 1930 and 1933, respectively. He started teaching as an instructor in the Engineering Department at the University of Rome and did graduate research at the University College London in England for two years. Being part Jewish, Salvadori decided to leave Italy for the United States in 1939 and worked for Lionel Train Company until1940.
During World War II, Salvadori worked as a consultant on the Manhattan Project for three years. He then started teaching at Columbia University where he would become a professor in 1959 in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, teaching there for 50 years.
Salvadori worked from 1954 to 1960 as consultant at Weidlinger. He also served as a partner until 1991 when he became an honorary chairman. He would become known for the design of thin concrete shells. He was an authority on structural failure, investigating numerous building failures due to natural disasters that included earthquakes and human error in construction or design. A list of projects/works include:
· Consultant to Atomic Energy Commission and other organizations
· CBS Building in New York City (Manhattan)
· Rare Books Library at Yale University
· Banque Lambert in Brussels
· Van Nuys Savings Group Bldg., Van Nuys, California
· La Concha Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico
When the New York schools put out a call for speakers to speak on careers, he established the Salvadori Education Center on the Built Environment in 1987. The center taught math, science, history, and art by using homes, office & apartment buildings, skyscrapers, bridges, tunnels, and other structures that were seen daily by students. The program was adopted in 14 states and 83 school districts.
His publications include:
1. The Mathematical Solution of Engineering Problems (1948)
2. Numerical Methods in Engineering (1953)
3. Differential Equations in Engineering Problems (1961)
4. Structured Sculpture (1961)
5. The Engineer’s contribution to contemporary architecture (Voice of America, Forum lectures, Architecture series)
6. Structural Design in Architecture (1967)
7. Statics & Strength of Structures (1971)
8. Structure in Architecture: The Building of Buildings (1975)
9. Building the fight Against gravity, Children’s book (1979)
10. Why Buildings Stand Up, McGraw-Hill (1980)
11. Buildings from Caves to Skyscrapers (1985)
12. The Art of Construction, Chicago Review Press (1990)
13. Why Buildings Fall Down, with Matthys Levy, WW. Norton (1992)
14. Why The Earth Quakes with Matthys Levy, (1995)
15. Earthquake Games, Children’s book (1997)
16. Paper Bridges: Strength through form, an illustrated teacher's manual (1997)
17. Math Games for Middle School, Children’s book (1998)
Salvadori also translated Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks to English and poems of Emily Dickinson into Italian. He was an inspiration to others, such as Eduardo Torroja, who mentioned him in his auto biography, The Structures of Eduardo Torroja: An Autobiography of Engineering Accomplishment. Salvadori wrote the foreword for this book.
Salvadori’s career spanned 60 years, and he was awarded many honors and awards including:
· 1953: Wason Medal for Most Meritorious Paper, American Concrete Institute along with Charles S. Whitney, Boyd G. Anderson
· 1962 Great Teacher Award, Federation of American Scientist
· 1975: FESS Award Federation of Engineering and Scientific Societies, Nation’s most outspoken proponents of ethics in engineering
· 1991: Pupin Medal, Columbia University, for outstanding service to the nation in architecture and engineering
· 1993: Hoover Medal, awarded jointly by five engineering societies, American Society of Civil Engineers
· 1993: Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education. American Institute of Architects and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture; the first engineer ever to receive this award
· 1996: National Honor Member of Chi Epsilon, the national civil engineering honor society, the 52nd civil engineer to be so honored
· 1997: Founders Award, National Academy of Engineering
· Honorary degrees: Columbia University (Doctor of Science, 1978), New School for Social Research (fine arts, 1991)
At the age of 90, Salvadori died in Manhattan, New York City, on June 25, 1997. He was the James Renwick Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering and Applied Science and Professor of Architecture Emeritus at Columbia University.
References
Newsday (New York, New York, 26 Sept 1995 page 66, The Community of Helping Hands, Norman Rubin
Valley Times (North Hollywood, California), 17 Jan 1958, pg 7, Van Nuys Savings open New Office
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb 18, 1978, page 2, Dr Mario G. Salvadori will receive the FESS Award
The Austin American, 2 April 1964, Columbia Prof Dated at UT
The Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet, 30 Dec 1956 pg 11, The Van Nuys New Building Planned by Van Nuys Savings Group
