Not all days in history are happy ones. \u00a0Today,\u00a0Severud Associates\u00a0is sad to announce the passing\u00a0in July\u00a0of John\u00a0J.\u00a0Cryan,\u00a0PE,\u00a0a\u00a0former principal, long-time president and CEO, mentor to many, and dear friend.<\/p>\n
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Born in 1931, John grew up in New York\u00a0City\u00a0and attended Manhattan College, where\u00a0in 1952\u00a0he earned\u00a0a\u00a0Bachelor of Science\u00a0degree in civil engineering. \u00a0After graduating, he served\u00a0in\u00a0the military\u00a0during\u00a0the\u00a0Korean War\u00a0and after his discharge worked in Wilmington, Delaware. \u00a0In 1957\u201467 years\u00a0ago last winter\u2014he\u00a0returned home and\u00a0began his career as an engineer at Severud.\u00a0\u00a0In the early years, he\u00a0also\u00a0attended classes at New York University and received a Master of Science in civil engineering in 1960.
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\nJohn was fortunate to be working with Fred N. Severud, the firm\u2019s founder, and Hannskarl Bandel, a principal, who are among the best structural engineers of all time and were at their peak in the 1950s and \u201860s.\u00a0\u00a0Their mentorship helped develop John\u2019s innate structural talents and the firm\u2019s preeminence ensured many opportunities to apply them to complex and challenging projects.\u00a0\u00a0It also instilled in John a commitment to share his knowledge with the engineers who followed him.<\/p>\n
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One of John\u2019s first\u00a0assignments, in 1961,\u00a0was Madison Square Garden, the\u00a0iconic,\u00a0150-foot high, 404-foot diameter\u00a0arena with an ingenious\u00a0cable-supported\u00a0roof, which\u00a0sits atop New York City\u2019s Penn Station. \u00a0Six years\u00a0later, he\u00a0worked on the Hampton Coliseum\u00a0in Virginia, another\u00a0significant venue with a\u00a0cable-supported roof\u00a0and distinctive concrete wall panels.\u00a0\u00a0His thorough understanding of the analysis, design, and detailing of both structures proved critical\u00a0in\u00a0their original construction and\u00a0the upgrades and renovations that were carried out\u00a0with his guidance\u00a0decades later.<\/p>\n
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John is perhaps best known for his expertise with high-rise office buildings. \u00a0Construction of the landmarked Seagram Building was underway in New York City when he joined the firm, which provided an excellent starting point, and he gained more valuable experience with the IDS Center in Minneapolis, MN, some years later.\u00a0\u00a0By the 1980s, John\u2019s innovative and economical approach, including his structural designs for Broad Financial Center, One Seaport Plaza, and Tower 45 in New York City, 1525 Locust Street, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and One Reading Center in Philadelphia, Merritt Tower in Baltimore, and 80 Park Plaza in Newark, New Jersey, had strengthened the firm\u2019s reputation for engineering excellence.<\/p>\n
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In 1984\u2014only a few years after becoming a principal\u2014John\u00a0was named President and CEO of the firm.\u00a0\u00a0His aptitude for business proved to be as impressive as his engineering skills and his strong leadership carried the firm to increasing\u00a0prosperity, despite recessions, the attacks and aftermath of 9\/11, and other\u00a0national\u00a0crises. \u00a0John passed his business acumen\u00a0on\u00a0to his partners so that when he retired\u00a0in 2006\u2014after 50 years of service to\u00a0Severud Associates\u00a0and the structural engineering profession\u2014the successful operation of the firm continued without interruption.<\/p>\n
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John considered the entire staff of\u00a0Severud Associates,\u00a0past and present,\u00a0to be more like family than simply colleagues or co-workers. \u00a0He was tremendously supportive and protective, with a parent\u2019s\u00a0interest in their professional development. \u00a0His\u00a0door was\u00a0usually\u00a0open\u2014literally\u2014and\u00a0he would patiently answer questions, listen to issues, offer advice\u00a0if not solutions,\u00a0and generally\u00a0head\u00a0people\u00a0in the right direction.<\/p>\n
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John\u00a0had a hugely positive impact on the history of\u00a0Severud Associates. \u00a0His\u00a0loss will be keenly felt by\u00a0all of us\u00a0who knew\u00a0and worked with\u00a0him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Not all days in history are happy ones. \u00a0Today,\u00a0Severud Associates\u00a0is sad to announce the passing\u00a0in July\u00a0of John\u00a0J.\u00a0Cryan,\u00a0PE,\u00a0a\u00a0former principal, long-time president and CEO, mentor to many, and dear friend. Born in 1931, John grew up in New York\u00a0City\u00a0and attended Manhattan College, where\u00a0in 1952\u00a0he earned\u00a0a\u00a0Bachelor of Science\u00a0degree in civil engineering. \u00a0After graduating, he served\u00a0in\u00a0the military\u00a0during\u00a0the\u00a0Korean War\u00a0and … Continue reading “John J. Cryan, PE – in Memoriam”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6097"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6635,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6097\/revisions\/6635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev70.fiveminutes.in\/severud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}