Remembering Vilas S. Mujumdar
Vilas Sitaram Mujumdar, a distinguished member of the Northeastern University Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Industrial Advisory Board, passed away in late March of 2023 at the age of 81.
Mujumdar was a member of the CEE Industrial Advisory Board since 2016, and he was a Distinguished Senior Fellow in the Northeastern University’s Global Resilience Institute. With a very generous gift in support of the department, college, and university, he launched the Vilas Mujumdar Strategic Resilience Fund in 2016 to establish opportunities for research and education related to critical infrastructure resilience. He felt this area was fundamentally important to the future of the built environment and of our society.
Mujumdar had a highly distinguished career. He was the Program Director for Engineering Research Centers and the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) Program at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and provided counsel to numerous faculty investigators nationwide about these NSF programs. As Chief of Operations for the Division of the State Architect for the State of California for years, he led efforts in earthquake engineering for all state government buildings. He held the position of Executive Director and CEO of the Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada. Additionally, he was the President, CEO, and member of the Board of Directors for numerous firms in consulting engineering, manufacturing, and project management. A leader in shaping the civil and environmental field, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Masonry Society, and several other professional organizations. He was also the Chief Engineering Editor of Natural Hazards Review, and he was President of the India Association in Houston, Texas. He has given numerous presentations and authored over 70 papers and two books. For his outstanding contributions, Vilas received several prestigious awards, including being elected a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, its highest honor. During his career, he received the NSF Outstanding Service Award; the NSF Director’s Award; the NEES Community Visionary Award, and a Special Recognition from the Governor of California “for making a significant contribution to enhancing seismic safety in California”.
Mr. Mujumdar held a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Vikram University and an M.S. in Civil/Structural Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, both in India. He held an MBA from Santa Clara University, and a Ph.D. from the School of Policy, Planning and Development from the University of Southern California. Mujumdar was passionate about linking engineering and policy, and fostered much of the work we do in these interdisciplinary areas at Northeastern, especially highlighting the links between the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, and the Global Resilience Institute.
Mujumdar formed close ties to several department faculty, staff, students, and advisory board members, providing so much guidance and advice on key strategic issues in the field. Many condolences go out to all that knew and worked with him. The department is grateful for all his contributions to Northeastern and will miss his wise counsel and friendship.