Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Linda M. Hanagan, Outstanding Young Alumni Award 2000
Ph.D. 1994
Assistant Professor of Architectural Engineering
Pennsylvania State University

After receiving her Bachelor of Architectural Engineering degree from Pennsylvania State University, Linda Hanagan worked as a Structural Design Engineer for firms in Delaware, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. She returned to Penn State and earned a M.S. in 1992 and then journeyed to Virginia Tech to work on a doctorate in Civil Engineering. She received both the Charles E. Via Fellowship and Charles E. Minor Fellowship in support of her studies in CEE, and completed her Ph.D. in 1994.



Dr. Hanagan's dissertation, "Active Control of Floor Vibrations," was based on research conducted in association with CEE Professor Tom Murray. The research has been presented at national and international conferences and published in a number of proceedings and professional journals, including the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) Engineering Journal and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Journal of Structural Engineering.



After leaving Blacksburg, Dr. Hanagan spent three years as an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at the University of Miami in Florida. There she secured a prestigious National Science Foundation grant, enabling her to continue her structural control research. In 1995, Dr. Hanagan received the Best Presentation Award during the Civil Engineering Applications Session of the American Control Conference. In 1997, she was elected to the rank of Eminent Engineer by the Tau Beta Pi Honor Society.



Dr. Hanagan returned to Penn State in 1998 as an Assistant Professor of Architectural Engineering. She is a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and continues her research in the areas of structural control, experimental testing, serviceability of building structures, and structural design and analysis. Her current multi-year grant from the National Science Foundation focuses on improving design and analysis techniques for preventing floor vibration problems in buildings. As a faculty member, Dr. Hanagan also enjoys teaching structural engineering courses to the many future professionals in her program.



Active in her profession, Dr. Hanagan is a member of ASCE, the Architectural Engineering Institute, and the American Society for Engineering Education. She has served on numerous committees including ASCE's Structural Control Committee, the Education Committee of ASCE's Architectural Engineering Institute, and the AISC Task Force for Low Floor-to-Floor Height Applications. In 1997 Dr. Hanagan was an invited lecturer for the AISC Steel Seminar Series. She has been a reviewer for several prominent publications and serves periodically as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation Research Program.



Virginia Tech holds a special place in her heart, Linda notes, because it is here that she met her husband, Steve Hanagan, who received his B.S. in CEE in 1990 and M.S. in 1992. They have two children-Catherine, three years old, and James, four months old-who, Linda says, "keep their parents very busy and bring them all the joy that life has to offer."