2017. augusztus 24.
In 2016 the Senate of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics granted the title of Honorary Citizen of BME to Thomas Cholnoky. He earned special merits through support for the Civil Engineering and Architecture training.
The 94-year-old former professor of the Department of Structural Engineering lives in the United States, but his health has kept him from attending the award ceremony in the last two years. Thomas Cholnoky has managed the Dr. Imre Korányi Civil Engineering Scholarship with great enthusiasm since its foundation in 1986. He named the scholarship after the famous construction and structural engineer, a former professor and head of department of structural engineering. Each year the scholarship makes it possible for usually one young PhD academic of BME to conduct 8-10 months of research at one of the best engineering universities of the United States. To show their gratitude, some of the leaders of BME and the Civil Engineering Faculty, many of them former Korányi-scholarship receivers, decided to give the honorary citizenship award to Tamás Cholnoky in person, at a modest ceremony, organized near the home of the professor. The award was handed by the team of: János Józsa rector of the university, László Kollár vice-rector, László Dunai dean, Attila László Joó, Tamás Krámer and Tamás Lovas vice-deans.
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Thomas Cholnoky graduated as an engineer from József Nádor University of Technology and Economics in 1945. From 1946 to 1948 he was an assistant professor at the I. Structural Engineering Department, teaching the Structural analysis subject. After the war he worked on the plans for rebuilding the Budapest South connective railway bridge and other structures. In 1949 he became a research engineer at the Laboratories du Bâtiment et des Travaux Publics in Paris, where he studied mainly the vibration and plasticity of concrete. From 1950 he was a design engineer at D.B.Steinman (New York), where he worked on reinforced concrete arches and long-span suspension bridges. Between 1950-54 he was the chief engineer of large tidal docks and deep quay walls at F.R. Harris (New York). He also worked on projects for the U.S. Navy, eg. reinforced concrete deck modules of aircraft carriers, but his publications were restricted at the time. In 1951 he obtained the New York state professional engineer license. From 1954 he has been the joint owner of the Sinjon, Inc. construction company. The main profile of the company is the construction and property management of family homes, residential buildings and office buildings. In 1986 he founded the Dr. Imre Korányi Scholarship, which he had managed personally until his daughter Lisa took this work over a few years ago. |
Through his outstanding and generous work Thomas Cholnoky has made a remarkable contribution to the advancement of the BME engineer training. The Korányi Scholars play an important role in the Hungarian civil engineering training and research. Many of the former receivers of the fellowship have since become professors and leaders of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics: among them 6 professors, 17 associate professors and 3 assistant professors are currently working at the faculties of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Natural Sciences; three of them are academics, four are MTA doctors, all of them holding a PhD. They play a major role in the leadership of the Faculty of Civil Engineering as well: a vice-rector, a dean, 4 vice-deans and 5 heads of department are former Korányi Scholarship receivers.
The 30 Korányi Scholarship receivers of the past 29 years:
| Name, academic rank |
Year |
University |
Current workplace |
|
Tamás Balogh candidate, PhD |
1987 |
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
Polivent Ltd. |
|
István Bódi PhD |
1988 |
University of Texas |
BME, associate professor |
|
László Dunai corresponding member of MTA |
1989 |
Lehigh University |
BME, professor, head of department, dean |
|
László Kollár full member of MTA |
1990 |
Stanford University |
BME, professor, vice-rector |
|
János Lógó doctor of MTA |
1990 |
University of Michigan |
BME, professor |
|
Katalin Bagi doctor of MTA |
1991 |
Cornell University |
BME, professor |
|
Gábor Domokos full member of MTA |
1992 |
University of Maryland at College Park |
BME, professor, head of department |
|
István Sajtos PhD |
1992 |
Cornell University |
BME, associate professor, head of department |
|
Béla Csíki PhD |
1994 |
University of California at Berkeley |
DCB Engineering Office, executive director |
|
Klára Ledniczky PhD |
1996 |
University of California at San Diego |
Strusoft Kft, design engineer |
|
Balázs Vásárhelyi PhD |
1997 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
BME, associate professor |
|
Nándor Liegner PhD |
1998 |
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
BME, associate professor, head of department |
|
Krisztián Hincz PhD |
2001 |
Weidlinger Associates Inc. |
BME, associate professor |
|
György Károlyi doctor of MTA |
2001 |
University of Arizona |
BME, professor, vice-dean |
|
Tamás Lovas PhD |
2001 |
The Ohio State University |
BME, associate professor, vice-dean |
|
Anita Szabó PhD |
2002 |
Stanford University |
INNO-WATER Environmental Research and Services Inc., CEO |
|
Gabriella Tarján PhD |
2002 |
Stanford University |
BME, assistant professor |
|
Sándor Ádány PhD |
2003 |
Johns Hopkins University |
BME, associate professor, head of department |
|
Róbert Németh |
2004 |
Cornell University |
BME, associate professor |
|
Nauzika Kovács PhD |
2006 |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
BME, associate professor |
|
Péter Várkonyi PhD |
2006 |
Princeton University |
BME, associate professor |
|
László Gergely Vigh PhD |
2007 |
Stanford University |
BME, associate professor |
|
Piroska Zaletnyik PhD |
2008 |
The Ohio State University |
BME, assistant professor |
|
Tamás Krámer PhD |
2009 |
NOAA Great Lakes Research Laboratory |
BME, associate professor, vice-dean |
|
Attila László Joó PhD |
2010 |
Lehigh University |
BME, associate professor, vice-dean |
|
András Árpád Sipos PhD |
2010 |
Cornell University |
BME, associate professor, vice-dean |
|
Gábor Jakab PhD |
2011 |
University of California at San Diego |
Michael Glatt Maschinenbau GmbH, Berechnungsingenieur |
|
Dezső Hegyi PhD |
2012 |
California Institute of Technology |
BME, associate professor |
|
Sándor Baranya PhD |
2013 |
University of Iowa |
BME, associate professor |
|
Tímea Szabó PhD |
2014 |
University of Pennsylvania |
BME, assistant professor |
|
Ádám Zsarnóczay PhD |
2017 |
Stanford University |
BME, research associate |
He was a contemporary of the poet János Pilinszky, who dediacated a poem to Thomas Cholnoky:
Winter Sky
To Thomas Cholnoky
Over my head the stars above
are stirring frosty fires,
under the merciless grey sky
against the wall I recline.
Sadness trickles wavering
from my abandoned mouth.
What’s become of mother’s milk?
I’m besmirching my coat.
Like a stone, that’s what I am,
no matter what, just let it come.
I’ll be obedient, so good,
I’ll tumble on the floor dumb.
I deceive myself no more,
there’s no one to help me,
no redemption by any pain,
no god can protect me.
Nothing on earth can there be
simpler or ghastlier –
slowly coming towards me
biblical monsters appear.
Translation: N. Ullrich Katalin, source can be found here.