Memorial - Fritz Matthiesen (1926-1981)

Abstract

R. B. "Fritz" Matthiesen died on 26 October 1981, at the age of 54, a victim of cancer, and his untimely death was a sad loss to his colleagues in earthquake engineering and seismology. We all miss his technical abilities, his sharp wit, and his irreverent ways of dealing with bureaucracy. Fritz had long been active in the affairs of the Seismological Society of America and was on the Board of Directors at the time of his death. His special technical interests were in the measurement and interpretation of strong ground motion and in the full-scale testing of structures such as buildings, dams, and nuclear reactors, and he was one of the world leaders in these fields. Until recently, he was Chief of the Seismic Engineering Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey, where he worked the past eight years of his career.