Professor Sheng-taur “S.T.” Mau 茅聲燾, distinguished civil engineering scholar and educator, and former dean of engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and at California State University, Northridge, passed away on December 17, 2024, in Houston, Texas, at the age of 81.
Prof. Mau was born on January 19, 1943 in the Chinese wartime capital of Chungking 重庆 to Mau Zuquan 茅祖權 and Liu Guilan劉桂蘭. He was the youngest of six children. S.T. grew up in Taiwan and graduated from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo Senior High School建國中學 in 1961. He then studied civil engineering at National Taiwan University (國立臺灣大學, NTU), graduating at the top of his civil engineering class in 1965, and earning a master’s degree in structural engineering in 1967. At NTU, S.T. forged lifelong friendships through the Audio-Visual Club 視聽社. It was also at NTU that S.T. met his future wife and the love of his life, Pei Sein-Ming “Gerry” 白先敏.
In August 1968, S.T. left Taipei to pursue his PhD studies at Cornell University. After he landed at JFK airport and before he moved on to Ithaca, he and Gerry were married on August 24, 1968 in Manhattan. S.T. and Gerry began their new life in Ithaca, where their first son Ted 茅一凡was born in May 1969. S.T. obtained his PhD in structural engineering in 1971. He then worked as a senior research engineer in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT in Boston, where their second son Mike 茅一民was born in October 1972.
The family returned to Taipei in 1973, as S.T. was recruited back to his alma mater NTU by his mentor Yu Zhaozhong 虞兆中, dean of the College of Engineering at the time, and later NTU president. At age 30, S.T. became the youngest chairman in the history of the Civil Engineering (CE) Department. As chair between 1973 and 1979, S.T. transformed the department, almost doubling the CE faculty size, expanding the graduate program, and enhancing undergraduate education. He initiated the Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at NTU, which established the talent base that eventually led to the creation of the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering by the Taiwan National Science Council in 1990. S.T. also launched the research of probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) in Taiwan, resulting in the generation of the first seismic design zoning map in Taiwan. He created a joint research program with the University of California, Berkeley on the investigation of dams, including the forced vibration tests of Te-Chi Reservoir dam and the finite element analysis of Fei-Tsui arch dam in Taiwan. Through these pioneering studies, S.T. initiated innovative research into structural health monitoring, which was a groundbreaking idea at the time and is now widespread in the field of civil engineering.
In 1984, S.T. and Gerry moved to Houston, Texas, where S.T. joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Houston (UH). During his tenure at UH, S.T. was appointed to a National Panel on Earthquake Engineering for Concrete Dams by the National Research Council in Washington D.C. In 1989, S.T. was awarded the prestigious Moisseiff Award by the American Society of Civil Engineers for his research. S.T. served as chair of the department from 1993-1996. He was widely recognized as an effective and fair leader who encouraged teamwork that led to multimillion-dollar funding for research.
In 1998, Prof. Mau was appointed the Dean of the Newark College of Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and served in that capacity for four years. In 2002, he became the Dean of Engineering and Computer Science at California State University, Northridge. In 2009, Prof. Mau retired after an illustrious 36-year career in teaching, research, and administration. He and Gerry enjoyed their golden years in the hills above the San Fernando Valley in southern California. In 2017, they moved back to Houston to be closer to Mike. Gerry passed away in 2021.
Outside of his academic career, Prof. Mau embodied the essence of a classical Chinese scholar. His Chinese calligraphy was exquisite, and he wrote eloquently in Chinese prose and poetry. He also played the pipa, a classical Chinese instrument.
Prof. Mau is survived by sons Ted 茅一凡and Mike 茅一民, and three grandchildren Jeremy, Abigail, and Nathaniel. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 4, 2025, at 10 am, at Winford Funerals in Houston (8514 Tybor Dr, Houston TX 77074). Family contact is Ted Mau (tedmau@gmail.com).
茅聲燾教授於1943年1月19日出生於中國對日抗戰時的首都重慶，父親是茅祖權, 江蘇省海門縣人。茅教授隨母親劉桂蘭在台灣長大,是六個孩子中最小的一個。1961年於臺北市建國高級中學畢業後，1965年於國立臺灣大學以土木工程系第一名畢業，並於1967年取得結構工程碩士學位。在臺大期間，茅教授在視聽社遇到了他未來的妻子也是他一生的摯愛-白先敏。
1968年8月茅教授前往康乃爾大學攻讀博士學位。在他降落在紐約甘迺迪機場後，前往伊薩卡之前，他和先敏於1968年8月24日在曼哈頓結婚。他們在伊薩卡開始了他們的新生活，第一個兒子茅一凡於1969年5月在那裡出生。茅教授於1971年取得結構工程博士學位。隨後他在麻省理工學院航空航太系擔任高級研究工程師，他們的第二個兒子茅一民於1972年10月在波士頓出生。
1973年茅教授被導師臺大工學院院長虞兆中(後來臺大校長)招募回母校。在三十歲成為土木系歷史上最年輕的系主任。在1973至1979年擔任系主任期間，土木系的教師人數加倍成長, 致力於推廣研究所, 並強化了大學部教育, 建立了土木工程人才的基礎。他創立了臺大地震工程研究中心，促成了臺灣國家科學委員會於1990年成立國家地震工程研究中心。此外茅教授在台灣也開展了機率式地震危險害分析的研究，從而產生了臺灣第一版耐震設計標準分區圖。他與加州大學柏克萊分校合作研究,進行臺灣德基水壩強迫振動試驗和翡翠水壩的有限元素分析。通過這些開創性的研究，茅教授開啟了對結構健康監測的創新研究，這在當時是一個開創性的想法，現在在土木工程領域得到了廣泛應用。
1984年茅教授受聘到美國休斯頓大學土木與環境工程系任教，和家人搬到德州休斯頓。在休斯頓大學任職期間，茅教授被任命為美國國家研究委員會混凝土大壩地震工程國家小組成員。1989年茅教授因卓越的研究而被美國土木工程師協會授予著名的 Moisseiff 獎。茅教授並於1993至1996年擔任土木與環境工程系系主任。他被公認為是一位有效和公平的領導者，鼓勵團隊合作，並且為研究籌集了數百萬美元的資金。
1998年茅教授出任紐澤西理工學院（新澤西理工學院）紐瓦克工程學院院長。2002年轉任加州州立大學北嶺分校工程與計算機科學學院院長。2009年茅教授在教學、研究和管理領域度過了三十六年的輝煌職業生涯後退休，和先敏在南加州聖費爾南多谷山間度過了八年的黃金歲月。2017年他們搬回休斯頓與二兒子一民為鄰。2021年先敏去世。
茅教授在他的學術生涯之外，亦擅長書法、琵琶，和散文和詩歌的創作，體現了傳統華人學者的典範。
茅聲燾教授，傑出的土木工程學者和教育家，於 2024 年 12 月 17 日在德克薩斯州休斯頓去世，享年 81 歲。
