Academy of Distinguished Alumni

  • Alumni Image #1:
  • Image Caption Title #1: JFK Causeway - Corpus Christi, Texas
  • Image Caption #1: Breen’s research contributed to segmental bridge technology and was first applied on the Intercoastal Waterway on the JFK Causeway in Corpus Christi, the first-of-its-kind in the United States.
  • Image Caption Title #2: Storebaelt West Bridge - between Sprogø and Funen, Denmark
  • Image Caption #2: Breen chaired the Independent Design Board for the Storebaelt West Bridge in Denmark. The bridge has one of the world’s longest main spans and it crosses the Great Belt strait between the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen.
  • Alumni Image #3:
  • Image Caption Title #3: Sunshine Skyway Bridge - Tampa Bay, FL
  • Image Caption #3: Breen has been a worldwide leader in the development of design and construction standards and a consultant for both structural and concrete buildings and bridges. He was a consultant on a number of bridge projects including this bridge, which crosses over four miles.
headshot of John Breen

Texas CAEE alumnus John E. Breen

John E. Breen

Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, 1962
M.S., University of Missouri, 1957
B.S., Marquette University, 1953

Inducted, 2003

John (Jack) Breen (deceased) was an acclaimed civil engineer and educator who influenced the principal design and construction standards for concrete bridges and buildings nationally and internationally. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, he was the Nasser I. Al-Rashid Chair Emeritus in Civil Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he served as a member of the faculty and was active in the development of new and innovative reinforced and prestressed concrete bridge and building systems.

Breen's research garnered recognition and awards from organizations such as the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Concrete Institute, the Prestressed Concrete Institute, the American Segmental Bridge Institute and the International Federation for Prestressed Concrete. He received the 2003 Bridge Engineering Research Award from the Bridge Engineering Association, which cited him for his excellence in structural concrete research, column design, reinforcement development, general structural integrity, segmental bridge design, corrosion protection and bridge aesthetics.

He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers' committee that sets the design loads for buildings. He was also a member and past chair of the American Concrete Institute Building Code Committee for Structural Concrete, which develops the design and construction rules for all concrete buildings in the United States and many foreign countries.

A former construction engineering officer in the U.S. Navy and faculty member at the University of Missouri-Rolla, Breen received five university and national awards for his teaching.

In 2003, The University of Texas at Austin Graduate Engineering Council chose him to receive their Faculty Appreciation Award, which recognizes a faculty member who has fostered engineering graduate students' well-being and professional development. When receiving this award, Breen commented, "I am aware of the extreme demands made on graduate students and want each one that I come into contact with to know that I respect their opinion and welcome their visiting my office. The students keep me young."