Press
Weidlinger's Matthys Levy Receives 2007 CCNY Townsend Harris Medal
Levy engineered the Marriott Marquis Hotel, where the awards dinner was heldNew York, NY - October 18, 2007. The international engineering firm of Weidlinger Associates, Inc., announced today that Matthys Levy received the 2007 Townsend Harris Medal from the Alumni Association of the City College of New York (CCNY). The medal was presented to Mr. Levy, a CCNY graduate, at the 127th Annual Alumni Dinner on Thursday, October 18, 2007, at the New York Marriot Marquis.
Levy was selected from among nearly 100 nominees by the Townsend Harris Medal Committee, consisting of former medalists, in recognition of his "exemplary contributions to his chosen field of endeavor." The Medal is named for CUNY's founder, who was also America's first diplomatic representative to Japan. Levy is a founding principal and Chairman Emeritus of Weidlinger. Dr. Melvin Baron (deceased), also a founding partner of Weidlinger, received the Medal in 1988.
Levy has been the structural designer for many dramatic buildings, including Atlanta's Georgia Dome Stadium and New York's Rose Center for Earth and Space. The Whitney Museum, the Javits Center, and the Rockefeller Center pedestrian bridge are some of the many New York City landmarks he also engineered. As structural engineer of the Marriott Marquis, he was responsible in part for the soaring atrium, slip-formed concrete elevator core, and economic 112-foot-span Vierendeel superframe. Levy also engineered major buildings for CUNY's Hostos, Baruch, and Manhattan campuses.
Levy is often interviewed and quoted as an expert on structural practice. He was Principal Investigator for the most comprehensive study of the World Trade Center collapses to date, which received the nation's most prestigious engineering excellence award (from ACEC) in 2004. He has published numerous papers in the fields of structures, computer analysis, aesthetics, and building systems design; has illustrated two books; and is the co-author of five books: Why the Earth Quakes (1997), Earthquake Games (2000), Engineering the City (2000), Why Buildings Fall Down (2002, second edition), and Why Buildings Stand Up (2002, second edition). He is the also the author of Why the Wind Blows (2007), a timely and entertaining account of the science of weather and climate change.
Levy accepted his award before more than 600 alumni, members of the College community, family, friends, and co-workers. He is candid about the opportunity that City College provided him: "I had neither the funds nor good enough test scores to attend a big-name American university. City College, tuition free at the time, gave me a chance to develop academically, which I did in four challenging years."
Weidlinger Associates, Inc., is a 350-person consultant engineering firm that designs and rehabilitates buildings, bridges, and infrastructure and provides special services in applied science, forensics, and physical security. For more than 55 years, the firm has been acknowledged worldwide for design solutions both innovative and practical and for a commitment to advancing the state of the art in engineering. Headquartered in New York City, the firm has branch offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. For more information, please see www.wai.com.
Contact: Mollie Fullington Linden Alschuler & Kaplan, Public Relations 212-575-4545 or cuzzi@lakpr.com
