Educator, Researcher, Practitioner and Mentor. These are all words that have been used to describe Paul Zia, a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering and Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. For more than 50 years, he was engaged in teaching, research and consulting in many areas of concrete materials, reinforced and prestressed concrete structures, and construction.
Zia passed away on August 16, 2023, at 97 years old. He inspired countless students and academic peers, advising more than 60 master’s and doctoral students during his tenure at NC State.
Zia’s legacy extends far beyond the boundaries of the university: He made outstanding contributions to the civil engineering profession, as well as the concrete and structural engineering fields.
“Dr. Zia has been a big and very positive influence and was extremely knowledgeable in the field of structural engineering,” said Greg Lucier, associate research professor and Constructed Facilities Laboratory (CFL) manager, and a former student of Zia. “One thing that was unique about Dr. Zia is that he had a tremendous practical ability for applying knowledge. He related the technical aspects of engineering to the practical field construction aspects.”
Zia was born in Changzhou, China, in 1926, and moved to the U.S. in 1949 after earning a B.S. in civil engineering from the National Chiao-Tung University in Shanghai. Zia joined consulting engineering firm Lakeland Engineering Associates (LEA) in Florida in 1951 as a summer intern. He earned his Master of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Washington, returning to LEA as a full-time employee in 1953 to help launch Lakeland Engineering Associates Prestressing (LEAP), which specialized in engineering, consulting and development for the brand new prestressed concrete industry. He was one of the first professional members of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) and helped to launch the PCI Journal in 1956, shortly after taking a position at the University of Florida to pursue his doctorate, start academic research on prestressed concrete, and work as an engineering instructor.
Zia joined NC State as an associate professor in 1961 and helped shape CCEE into one of the top civil engineering programs in the country. He became department head in 1979 and a distinguished university professor in 1989. Even after his retirement in 1996, Zia remained extremely active in the department, He continued to visit the CFL to collaborate on projects and was engaged in research discussions in the past six months.
Zia was a registered professional engineer in North Carolina and an honorary member of both the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and a Fellow of PCI. He served as chairman and member of many technical and administrative committees of these organizations, including a term as president of ACI in 1989-90. He conducted sponsored research on many aspects of prestressed and reinforced concrete, including torsion and shear, bond and development length, loss of prestress, applications of high performance and high strength concrete, self-consolidating concrete, jointless bridge deck, and cracking in large prestressed concrete girders. His studies also included fatigue strength of cracked prestressed concrete girders, assessment of high performance concrete bridges, development of a non-destructive test method for measuring air permeability of concrete, the use of self-consolidating concrete in highway structures, and application of corrosion-resistant high-strength MMFX steel for concrete structures.
For his achievements in teaching, research, and professional activities, Zia received numerous honors and awards including election to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering (1983); NC State Alcoa Foundation Distinguished Engineering Research Award (1978-80); University of Florida Distinguished Alumnus Award (1983); ASEE Lamme Medal (1986); and NC State Alexander Quarles Holladay Medal of Excellence (1993), the highest honor bestowed on a faculty member by the NC State Board of Trustees. In 1999, the National Park Service presented him the Citizen’s Award for Exceptional Service in recognition of his role as an adviser and consultant for the relocation of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. In 2004, he was honored by PCI with the Distinguished Educator of the Year Award.
“When I think of Dr. Zia, I just think of an icon who contributed so much to the advancement of structural engineering, as well as the inquiry and training of future engineers,” said Pamela Townsend (BSCE 1987), a former student of Zia. “Just a huge contributor to our profession.”
One of Zia’s most-notable accomplishments was the construction and implementation of NC State’s Constructed Facilities Lab (CFL), a large-scale structural engineering laboratory. The CFL enables faculty and students to perform advanced research and testing of construction materials, structural systems, and processes that enhance the sustainability and economy of civil infrastructure through innovation and vision.
Sami Rizkalla, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering and Construction, said he remembers Zia discussing his dream to build a research facility for large-scale testing back when Rizkalla was his student.
“I think I left with this kind of vision he had. When I came back [to teach],it was achieved and the Constructed Facilities Lab was built.”
The CFL, a joint investment by the National Science Foundation and the State of North Carolina, was established in 1996 and was one of the first facilities of its kind in the U.S.
“Certainly it was unique in the Southeast U.S.,” Zia explained at the time. “There were maybe one or two other universities that have similar facilities, large laboratory facilities up north. But not all major research universities had such facilities.”
When U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg visited the CFL in 2021, he marveled at students and faculty showing infrastructure-related research and development at the facility, saying, “What we just saw at NC State is a great example of how private sector, academic and public sector interact,” according to The News & Observer.
Alongside pioneering new research in many aspects of prestressed and reinforced concrete, Zia was also known for his warm personality, outstanding mentorship and teaching, and personal touch when it came to helping others.
“He was a very beautiful, sincere person, and very unique in terms of dealing with people and enjoying their success,” Rizkalla said. “So he helped people to succeed and watched their success with joy which is, I think, a model of a professor. And he was also a model as an engineer with his technical ability. I will always have him as a model for my life, and that’s how he affected my career.”
“One of the best features of Dr. Zia was his ability to listen,” Lucier said. “He didn’t just assume that his vast knowledge is superior to everyone else. Most of the time it is — but he was very careful to listen to everyone and listen very sincerely and earnestly to those he was working with.”
“Paul was my first mentor at NC State,” said Christopher W. Clark Distinguished Professor Mervyn Kowalsky. “I learned a lot from Paul. Amongst the many things included how to advise students; how to appreciate that the relationship with graduate students should be one of ‘kindness and support,’ not ‘boss and worker’ — this is a characteristic that Paul and my Ph.D. advisor Nigel Priestly both shared and is ingrained in what I truly believe to be right — and that we work with our students. There are many examples where Paul would stand with us, side-by-side in the field, applying strain gauges and participating in casting of concrete.”
“What I learned from Dr. Zia was how to solve very complicated problems,” said Townsend. “And what I observed were the techniques and problem-solving. They included calmness and determination and inquisitiveness.”
Zia always emphasized the importance of the fundamentals of engineering and to approach each problem with a sense of humanity.
“The message I can leave for future generations — I want to emphasize that I hope they will stick to the fundamentals and of course, at the same time, be aware that just technology alone is not going to be sufficient in the future. They have to be well-versed on the humanity side, particularly in the understanding of a global situation. The practice of civil engineering will continue to evolve.”
A version of this story first appear in the CCEE Fall 2023 Newsletter.