Kenneth J. Fridley

Background: 

Dr. Kenneth J. Fridley received his B.S. in civil engineering from Washington State University in 1985, his M.S. in engineering from the University of Texas at Austin (1986), and his Ph.D. from Auburn University (1990).  Dr. Fridley has served on the faculties of Purdue University (1990-92), The University of Oklahoma (1992-94), Washington State University (1994-2001), and The University of Nevada-Las Vegas (2001-03).  At UNLV, Dr. Fridley served as Associate Dean of Research for the Hughes College of Engineering (2001-02) and Interim Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering (2002).  Since January 2003, Dr. Fridley has served as Professor and Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The University of Alabama.  

Dr. Fridley is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and currently serves as chair of the Society's Structural Engineering Institute's Technical Activities Committee on Wood.  Dr. Fridley is also an active member of the Institute's Standards Committee on Engineered Wood Construction, which oversees the development and administration of the LRFD standard for wood construction.  Additionally, Dr. Fridley serves on the American Forest & Paper Association, American Wood Council's Wood Design Standards Committee, which is responsible for, among other items, the development and administration of the National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction. 

In 2002, Dr. Fridley was recognized for his accomplishments in the area of wood engineering with the Wood Engineering Achievement Award from the Forest Products Society.  Citing his many contributions to the understanding of wood as an engineering material, particularly the time-related behavior of wood, and his dedication to wood engineering education, Dr. Fridley was given the Wood Engineering Achievement Award under the award's Young Engineer criteria.

In addition to research and teaching and service to the profession, Dr. Fridley has offered engineering consulting services in the area of wood materials, design, construction and forensics.  He is also a co-author of one of the premier structural wood design textbooks:  Design of Wood Structures by D. Breyer, K. Fridley, D. Pollock and K. Cobeen.  Design of Wood Structures, published by McGraw-Hill, is the most used wood design text in the country and is currently in its fifth edition.  The fifth edition is compatible with the current 2001 NDS and the 2002 International Building Code (IBC).

Research Interests:
Dr. Fridley’s research interests are in the general areas of structural engineering and mechanics with emphasis on the analysis, laboratory testing, and behavior modeling of structural materials, components and systems, including time-dependent material behavior and structural response (visco-plasticity, creep-rupture, etc.). Additionally, Dr. Fridley has conducted research involving probabilistic methods and mechanics, applied structural reliability, reliability-based structural design, structural serviceability and design (vibrations, durability, deflection, etc.). Dr. Fridley has extensive experience in the area of wood engineering, design of wood structures, wood and wood-based materials and structures, including load duration behavior, connections, and seismic response and protection of wood-frame buildings. Recently, he has been involved in the experimental and analytical investigation of new materials in structural applications.