Richard G. Redwood passed away on October 26, 2011. He had joined the Department of Civil Engineering in 1965 as an Assistant Professor, and quickly rose through the ranks, serving two separate terms as Chair of the Department for a period of nine years. In addition, was active on many key Departmental, Faculty and University Committees over the years.

His main field of expertise was the behaviour and design of steel structures. He was recognized as an international expert in this area and played a key role in the development of the Canadian code of practice for the design of steel structures for buildings and for bridges. He carried out pioneering work on composite steel and concrete structures, thin walled beams, beams with openings, braced frames and the non-linear dynamic analysis of steel structures to simulate earthquake effects. Many of his former graduate students have gone on to play leadership roles in industry and at several universities. His colleagues have benefitted from his undeniable integrity and his carefully measured advice.

After retiring from McGill in 1997, Richard was appointed Emeritus Professor and discovered that he had hidden talent. He became a gifted artist who studied and painted in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. He has had a remarkable career and made significant contributions to McGill University as an excellent teacher, researcher and administrator.

The Redwood Graduate TISED Fellowship was established in 2014 by McGill alumnus Feng Lu, (MEng’90), to recognize and promote academic achievement among graduate students at the Faculty of Engineering. One of the first donors to make a generous gift to the Fellowship was the late Mrs. Elizabeth Redwood, in honour of her late husband.

The fellowship is awarded annually, on the basis of academic merit, to outstanding Civil Engineering graduate students engaged in research at McGill’s Trottier Institute for Sustainability in Engineering and Design (TISED). Currently, the Redwood Graduate TISED Fellowship supports 1-2 graduate students, and with your generous help, additional students will be supported by this fellowship honouring Prof Redwood’s memory. The following students have received the Fellowship since its inception:

• Bismarck Ledezma
• Lam Nguyen
• Vinicius Bueno
• Wooseok Do
   

The fellowship is supported by an endowment, and will thus continue to be awarded in perpetuity. You can learn more about how endowments work by consulting this page. If you would like to make a contribution to the Redwood Graduate TISED Fellowship please see below for the various options:

“Professor Redwood vigorously guided me throughout my years at McGill, but even more, he and his family showed great care and attention to his students.”

Feng Lu
Former student, Fellowship benefactor