Important personalities

A number of personalities who have significantly contributed to the development of the Institute of Structural Mechanics since the establishment of the Czech Brno University of Technology in Brno are mentioned in the historical overview. The following academic staff have made a special contribution to the development of the Institute after the re-establishment of the university after 1945, to its current organisation and to its pedagogical and scientific level:

Prof. Ing. Dr. Ladislav Záruba, DrSc. (1886–1963)

He studied civil engineering in 1906–1911 at the Czech Technical University in Brno, where he worked until 1915 as an assistant of Prof. Rieger (concrete construction). In 1930 he was appointed extraordinary professor of reinforced concrete construction and in 1938 full professor of structural mechanics. The main subject of Prof. Záruba's scientific interest was bridge structures, which he also successfully dealt with in his practical and design activities. Prof. Záruba was three times Dean of the Department of Civil Engineering.

Prof. Ing. Dr. Alois Král, dr. h. c. (1884–1969)

He studied civil engineering in 1905–1910 at the Czech Technical University in Brno, where he worked until 1912 as an assistant to Prof. Řehořovský (general mechanics). In 1912–1945, A. Král lived in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he made a significant contribution to the building of the technical faculty of the local university (he was dean of the faculty four times and later also rector of the university). In 1946, Prof. Král returned to the Czech Technical University in Brno, where he founded the Institute of Technical Mechanics in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering and served as head of the Institute until 1957. In the period 1949–1950 Prof. Král was the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering.

Prof. Ing. Dr. Ferdinand Lederer, DrSc. (1906–1990)

He graduated in civil engineering in 1924–1929 at the Czech Technical University in Brno, where he worked in 1932–1936 as an assistant at the Institute of Statics, Structural Mechanics and Iron Structures. After his work in practice and at the Slovak Technical University, he returned to Brno in 1953 and in 1956–1959 headed the Department of Steel Structures and Structural Mechanics at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. The focus of his work was mainly in the field of steel structures, including numerous projects (Pavilion Z at BVV, etc.). In the field of structural mechanics he was the author or co-author of several monographs and textbooks.

Prof. Ing. Dr. Zbyněk Drahoňovský, CSc. (1922–2013)

He studied civil engineering in 1945–1948 at the Czech Technical University in Brno, where he worked until 1951 as an assistant to Prof. Hruban (concrete structures). In 1951 he habilitated and moved to the Department of Mechanics and Structures of Civil Engineering, which he took over from Prof. Král in 1957. In 1960 Z. Drahoňovský was appointed professor and after the merger of the faculties of civil engineering and architecture and civil engineering he took over the management of the newly established Department of Structural Mechanics until 1962. He contributed greatly to the rapid development of the Department and its high pedagogical and scientific level by promoting the use of computers and modern numerical methods in structural mechanics, establishing a new field of study in this field and educating a number of collaborators and successors. Prof. Drahoňovský also served as Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering for several terms.

Prof. Ing. Dr. Vladimír Kolář, DrSc. (1928–2000)

He studied civil engineering in 1947–1951 at the Czech Technical University in Brno, where he worked from 1950 as an assistant to Prof. Záruba. From 1951 to 1958 he was a teacher at the Military Technical Academy, where he was promoted to the rank of associate professor in 1953. After returning to the Faculty of Civil Engineering, he was appointed professor in 1961 and in 1962–1970 headed the Department of Structural Mechanics. During this period he also held the positions of Vice-Dean and Vice-Rector. In 1975 Prof. Kolář joined Dopravoprojekt Brno as a senior researcher. Prof. Kolář made a significant contribution to the development of the Department of Structural Mechanics by introducing the use of the finite element method into its scientific and pedagogical activities and educating a number of colleagues and successors in this direction.

Prof. Ing. Jaroslav Jiroušek, CSc., dr. h. c. (nar. 1929)

He graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech University of Civil Engineering in Brno in 1955 and worked as an assistant professor and since 1963 as an associate professor at the Department of Building Mechanics. He also taught abroad (Algeria, Syria) and after 1968 emigrated to Switzerland, where he lectured at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne until 1998. He became an internationally recognized expert, especially in the field of the finite element method. In 1994 he received an honorary doctorate from Brno University of Technology.

Prof. Ing. Jiří Benda, CSc. (nar. 1928)

He graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in 1952. In 1968 he was habilitated, in 1991 he was appointed professor of Structural Mechanics. An excellent teacher, he collaborated with Prof. Drahoňovský on the introduction of modern numerical methods. In his scientific work, he focused on foundation structures on various types of subsoil. He participated in the creation of the national textbook Static of Building Structures. In 1990–1997 he served as Vice Dean for Educational Activities and significantly influenced the development of the Faculty's curricula.

Doc. Ing Svatopluk Šmiřák, CSc. (nar. 1932)

He graduated from the Military Technical Academy (VTA) in Brno as a civil engineer in 1955. He worked at the VTA, from 1958 at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, where in 1965 he obtained the rank of associate professor in the field of elasticity and strength. A renowned educator who was prevented from teaching, he then worked as a specialist structural engineer. After his rehabilitation in 1990, he returned to the department and continued his teaching activities. Among his publications, let us recall his excellent scripts on elasticity.

Prof. Ing Dr. Ladislav Mejzlík, DrSc. (1922–2002)

He completed his studies at the Czech Technical University in Brno in the field of constructive transport in 1949. In 1958 he was habilitated, in 1961 he was appointed professor and in 1963 doctor of technical sciences. He worked as an expert in the field of geotechnics and water engineering in China, and in 1965–1967 he lectured as a UNESCO expert in Algiers. He was the author of numerous publications in the field of geotechnical calculations and the creep and shrinkage of reinforced concrete structures.

Prof. Ing. Jaroslav Kadlčák, DrSc. (1931–2001)

He graduated from the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Brno in 1956. In 1981 he was habilitated and in 1986 he was appointed professor. In 1984 he defended his doctoral dissertation. In his scientific work, he focused on the theory of rope systems. In this field he carried out demanding static calculations of suspended rope roofs of halls, which were realized both in our country and abroad (Hungary, Germany, Austria). In 1995 he published a monograph on this subject abroad. He was the author of many university texts, especially in the field of statics of building structures. The two-volume textbook Static of Building Structures from 1998 and 2001 is now in its third edition.

Prof. Ing. Břetislav Teplý, CSc. (nar. 1933)

He graduated from the Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering of the University of Civil Engineering in Brno in 1956. He was habilitated in 1978, in 1995 he was appointed professor in structural mechanics. He works in the field of numerical methods of structural design, modelling of reinforced concrete structures and verification of reliability and durability of building structures. He has been and is the proposer and investigator of a number of grant projects of our and foreign agencies. In 1990–2000 he was the head of the Institute of Structural Mechanics. Since 2002, he has been with the Department of Chemistry and continues to work very closely with the Department of Structural Mechanics, particularly on interdisciplinary problems in mechanics.

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