Starr D. Kohn

Starr D. Kohn
Starr D. Kohn (BS 76, MS 78)


CEEAA Distinguished Alumni Award, 2012

Awarded posthumously, for outstanding leadership in the development of innovative solutions in pavement engineering in the areas of pavement management, non-destructive testing, improved long-term pavement performance, forensic studies and construction troubleshooting, and for dedicated service to the civil engineering profession.

Biography

Starr D. Kohn (1953-2008) began his career with the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory in Champaign, Ill., where he was involved in the development of the internationally accepted Pavement Condition Index (PCI) and the Paver System for managing military pavement facilities. Kohn continued his affiliation with the Corps of Engineers at the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory in Vicksburg, Miss., where he conducted research on heavily loaded airfield pavement performance. At the time of his death in 2009, he was a Senior Vice President and Principal at Soil and Materials Engineers Inc. in Plymouth, Mich., where he also served on the board of directors.

Kohn dedicated more than 30 years to pavement evaluation, design, management and research. He was a specialist in the structural design of heavily loaded airfield pavements and an early pioneer in the field of nondestructive evaluation of pavement systems. He worked on many nationally important programs including the Strategic Highway Research Program, the FHWA Long-Term Pavement Performance Study, and several Airfield Structural Evaluation Programs. He conducted numerous studies on factors affecting pavement smoothness and became a national expert in this field. He served in leadership roles on the pavement related committees of the Transportation Research Board, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the American Concrete Institute.  He was an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan, where he earned his Ph.D.

He continues to be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his family, coworkers and friends.