Professor James M. LaFave

James M. LaFave holds a B.S. and M.S. in civil engineering (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) and a Ph.D. (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) in civil (structural) engineering. He has been on the faculty of the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois since 1999. Dr. LaFave was a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst for two years prior to coming to the University of Illinois. He is a licensed Professional Engineer with over four years of consulting engineering experience at Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. in Princeton, NJ and Sargent & Lundy Engineers in Chicago, IL.

Prof. LaFave has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in the area of structural design, including courses on the behavior, design, and assessment of reinforced concrete, structural steel, and prestressed concrete structures. In addition, he works with student organizations in his capacity as Faculty Advisor to the Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honor Society and the ASCE Steel Bridge Team.

Prof. LaFave has a primary research interest in the experimental behavior and analytical modeling of structural connections and joints, including performance and assessment of reinforced concrete building and bridge structures subjected to earthquakes, seismic performance of light-frame construction, innovative structural framing systems, and also concrete durability.

Prof. LaFave is a member of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI). He is Chair of Joint ACI-ASCE Committee 352 (Joints and Connections in Monolithic Concrete Structures) and a Member of ACI Committee 439 (Steel Reinforcement) and ACI Committee E802 (Teaching Methods and Educational Materials).

In 2002 and again in 2005, Prof. LaFave received the University of Illinois ASCE Student Chapter Outstanding Instructor Award, and he was named a 2005 UIUC College of Engineering Xerox Award recipient for Faculty Research.