This article is from the archives of the UB Reporter.
Our Colleagues

Obituaries

Published: August 30, 2012

  • A celebration of the life of Sherwood Peter “Bud” Prawel Jr., longtime faculty member in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, will be held from 3-8 p.m. Sept. 7 in St. Charles Borromeo Parish Center at St. John de LaSalle Church, 8477 Buffalo Ave., Niagara Falls.

    Prawel, an associate professor emeritus who was one of the founders of UB’s Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, as well as the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research—now known as MCEER—died on Aug. 20 in his Grand Island home. He was 80.

    A prolific researcher, Prawel specialized in the areas of ferrocement and masonry construction. He designed the first shake table platform in the Structural Engineering and Earthquake Simulation Laboratory, and constructed it with the help of student clubs.

    He was the co-author of three college engineering textbooks on mathematics for engineers and structural analysis and design, and also authored or co-authored numerous journal articles on structural engineering and engineering computations.

    Prawel received a SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1975 and mentored hundreds of students, doctoral and postdoctoral associates, and junior faculty members during his 40-plus years as a UB faculty member. The department recognized this contribution by establishing the S.P. Prawel Award to support students who have demonstrated superior achievement in structural engineering courses.

    Prawel was an avid sailor—he was former commodore and member of the Wilson Yacht Club—and also enjoyed playing the bagpipes, woodworking and carving, genealogical research, cultivating orchids and collecting cuckoo clocks.

    Memorials may be made to the S.P. Prawel Fund, UB Foundation, P.O. Box 900, Buffalo, NY, 14226-0900

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