Muhlenbruch was cited, “For employing his broad educational background, including practice skills developed through his own making which serve as a model of what can be achieved nationally and internationally through personally reaching out to others, through vision, competence and creative leadership.”

Muhlenbruch’s 70-year career in civil engineering included both teaching and professional practice.  From 1939 to 1954, he taught civil engineering at the university level, serving on the faculties of both Carnegie Institute of Technology and Northwestern University.  In 1954, he became president of Tec-Search Inc. in Wilmette, Ill.  In 1967, he became Chairman of the Board, a position he held until his death in 2007.  Muhlenbruch was an active volunteer with Rotary International, directing internationally recognized service projects in Ghana, West Africa, and Exuma, Bahamas. 

Muhlenbruch is the author of the textbook “Experimental Mechanics and Properties of Materials,” published in 1944, and numerous articles in professional journals. 

Muhlenbruch earned a bachelor’s degree (1937) from the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree (1945) in civil engineering from the Carnegie Institute of Technology.