The recognition is given to Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute members who consistently make outstanding contributions to the precast concrete structures industry and to the institute in education, research, design, production, quality, erection, marketing and management.
Zatar is the first professor from West Virginia to receive this award, which was presented during the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Convention and National Bridge Conference. The institute’s president, Robert Risser, and Board Chairman Chuck Prussack presented the award during a banquet attended by more than 850 experts in the field.
Zatar was previously named the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Distinguished Educator for 2016. In 2009, Zatar was the first professor from West Virginia to receive the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Educator Award. Zatar’s teaching record includes a history of teaching 10 undergraduate courses, two undergraduate laboratories, eight graduate courses and two graduate laboratories. He has impacted the industry in the area of seismic-resistant prestressed concrete bridges and transportation structures. His research work, in conjunction with many national and international laboratories, was cited by numerous supporters of his nomination for the awards as work that “will advance the use of precast/prestressed concrete.”
“Zatar’s demonstrated commitment to his students as he taught and mentored them in their reinforced concrete and precast/prestressed concrete studies and his commitment to advance the knowledge of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute and precast concrete structures industry make him the ideal recipient of the Institute’s multiple awards,” his award nomination stated.
Zatar has received other awards as well, including the Outstanding Civil Engineering Educator of the Year Award, established by the West Virginia Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He currently serves as the first West Virginian Chairman of the National Committee on Structural Fiber Reinforced Polymers of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academics.
Founded in 1954, the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute is the technical institute and trade association for the precast/prestressed concrete structures industry. The institute develops, maintains, and disseminates knowledge for the design, fabrication, and erection of precast concrete structures and systems.