Purdue plaque to honor Golden Gate Bridge designer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University says a civil engineering professor long overlooked for his role in the Golden Gate Bridge project will be honored with a plaque this week.

Purdue says Charles Ellis, a Purdue civil engineering professor from 1934-1946, was the structural design engineer for the iconic bridge. The university says he had not received credit for his pivotal role in the project until recently.

Paul Giroux, a nationally recognized construction engineering expert, will present the plaque to Purdue and the School of Civil Engineering during a luncheon Thursday in the Purdue Memorial Union ballrooms.

Giroux was the American Society of Civil Engineers’ chairman for a Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary event in 2012. The plaque is a duplicate of one installed at the bridge last year.