We are deeply saddened to announce the death of a great man, mentor, researcher, and teacher. Berkeley CEE Professor Emeritus Carl L. Monismith died on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Missoula, Montana, at 98. Memorial services will be held this spring in California.
"Carl's impact and legacy at the Institute of Transportation Studies will be felt for generations to come," says ITS Berkeley Director Daniel A. Rodriguez. "His dedication and care for his students, employees, and the Institute were truly commendable, surpassed only by his innovative and influential research."
Carl was a true Cal alum. He received both his B.S. (1950) and M.S. (1954) degrees in Civil (Structures) Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He continued to teach, perform research, and lead programs at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Institute of Transportation Studies, and its UC Pavement Research Center. He also holds an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
"Professor Monismith was a pioneer in the development of modern pavement structural design and understanding of asphalt materials. He was an outstanding teacher and mentor to many future leaders around the world, and he helped establish methods of advancing knowledge into practice that we are relying on today," says John Harvey, current director of the UC Pavement Research Center at UC Davis and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Carl also advised him. "He will be missed for his contributions but also as a colleague and friend."
In 1951 Carl joined the Berkeley Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) faculty. From 1974 to 1979, he served as Department Chair and Chair of the Division of Transportation Engineering, which included geotechnical engineering, construction engineering, and management at the time. In 1971, he received a Fulbright Grant to study at the University of New South Wales in Australia, where he received the Rupert Myers Award in 1976.
"I appreciate Carl because he was department chair when I was hired. Hopefully he does not regret the decision," says UC Berkeley Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Emeritus Carlos Daganzo. "I had both his kids in my CE 155 class and was later happy to see that they successfully survived the experience. It must have been Carl's genes."
In 1996, he became a Professor of the Graduate School and earned the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award. He remained active with the department and ITS for many years afterward. His last position at UC Berkeley was the Robert Horonjeff Professor of Civil Engineering, Emeritus, and Director Emeritus of Berkeley's Pavement Research Center of the Institute of Transportation Studies.
From 1951-2008, he supervised 37 doctoral students who worked in academia, government, and industry in 10 states and nine countries. He was inducted into the Civil and Environmental Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2012. He received a Special Recognition at the ITS Berkeley Awards ceremony in 2016 "with affection and gratitude for his extraordinary contributions to transportation research and your service to the University of California, Berkeley, from 1951 to 2016." At the time, when he looked back across more than 60 years of pavement research at UC Berkeley, he simply saw a lucky life. "I can't imagine a better profession than being a civil engineer, and my colleagues at Berkeley were simply the best." Please visit his obituary website here to send flowers or plant a tree in his memory.
His family, friends, colleagues, and the transportation world will miss him. His academic and professional achievements were only eclipsed by his kindness. Read the full memorial feature on the ITS website here.