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1935-2022
Robert K. Tener
Robert K. Tener, Colonel, Retired, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Member of the National Academy of Construction, died peacefully after a lengthy illness on February 15, 2022. He was 86 years old.
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, eldest of three boys, and grew up in Noblesville, Indiana. He was an accomplished student, musician (a clarinetist and singer), and athlete. Immediately after receiving his degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1957, Bob went on to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate in structural engineering from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. He faithfully served his country through a 27-year career in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer.
He had a lifelong career of remarkable engineering achievements spanning five-plus decades in four distinctly separate arenas: military, service engineer, academe, and management. He crossed disciplines with significant achievements of national scope in the public, private, academic, and non-profit sectors.
His career led him to a position at the Pentagon, as well as to faculty positions in civil engineering at West Point and Purdue University. He was the District Engineer of Tennessee’s Cumberland River Valley, where he headed up the Divide Cut of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and numerous other large Corps projects. One of Bob’s strong suits as a regional leader in the Corps was his consistent prioritization of environmental conservation principles.
Through his military career, Bob received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievements in Vietnam in 1968, a Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding service as a U.S. Military Academy faculty member in 1972, and a Meritorious Service Medal for service as Battalion Commander in Germany in 1975. Bob rose through the ranks, earning early promotions to both Major and Lt. Colonel. He retired in Dallas, Texas in 1984 as Colonel.
Following retirement from the Army, he served on the Purdue University civil engineering faculty for eight years, where he advocated for effective industry-university partnering through leadership roles in the national education committees of the Associated General Contractors and the American Society of Civil Engineers. He cared deeply that students obtain practical experience during their engineering education. He served as a great mentor to role model to hundreds of students. In 1995 he was one of the first two academics to become a Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) member and a Designated DBIA Professional.
In 2005, Bob became the founding Executive Director of the Charles Pankow Foundation, an applied research institute in California, advancing best practices in the engineering, design, and construction industry for the building industry. He advocated for practical research that could be applied and added value to the owner. He also worked tirelessly to create collaborations and partnerships to solve industry needs and challenges.
Bob retired from professional work in 2012. Among his numerous awards and recognitions are Iowa State’s Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering; voted Professor of the Year four times by his Purdue students, and election to university honorary societies: Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Chi Epsilon, Beta Tau, Iron Key, and Mortar Board. In 2012, Bob was awarded the DBIA Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award. He founded, and for six years chaired, the Board of Directors for the Inland Empire, California regional affiliate of the National Architects, Construction and Engineers (ACE) Mentor program. He served on the Board of Trustees of the formerly named Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California, currently California Botanic Garden.
He and his wife Ann Joslin Tener were active in service and leadership work on community boards and city committees. Giving back was a core principle he lived by.
He will be remembered as a devoted husband, loving father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He was known for his intellect, talents, generosity, caring, and warmth. He loved music, the mountains, botanical gardens, and developing people as well as structures. He lived an extraordinary life. He will be forever loved and never forgotten.
― Jeff Russell, 2022
― Hans Van Winkle 2022
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, eldest of three boys, and grew up in Noblesville, Indiana. He was an accomplished student, musician (a clarinetist and singer), and athlete. Immediately after receiving his degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1957, Bob went on to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate in structural engineering from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. He faithfully served his country through a 27-year career in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer.
He had a lifelong career of remarkable engineering achievements spanning five-plus decades in four distinctly separate arenas: military, service engineer, academe, and management. He crossed disciplines with significant achievements of national scope in the public, private, academic, and non-profit sectors.
His career led him to a position at the Pentagon, as well as to faculty positions in civil engineering at West Point and Purdue University. He was the District Engineer of Tennessee’s Cumberland River Valley, where he headed up the Divide Cut of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and numerous other large Corps projects. One of Bob’s strong suits as a regional leader in the Corps was his consistent prioritization of environmental conservation principles.
Through his military career, Bob received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievements in Vietnam in 1968, a Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding service as a U.S. Military Academy faculty member in 1972, and a Meritorious Service Medal for service as Battalion Commander in Germany in 1975. Bob rose through the ranks, earning early promotions to both Major and Lt. Colonel. He retired in Dallas, Texas in 1984 as Colonel.
Following retirement from the Army, he served on the Purdue University civil engineering faculty for eight years, where he advocated for effective industry-university partnering through leadership roles in the national education committees of the Associated General Contractors and the American Society of Civil Engineers. He cared deeply that students obtain practical experience during their engineering education. He served as a great mentor to role model to hundreds of students. In 1995 he was one of the first two academics to become a Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) member and a Designated DBIA Professional.
In 2005, Bob became the founding Executive Director of the Charles Pankow Foundation, an applied research institute in California, advancing best practices in the engineering, design, and construction industry for the building industry. He advocated for practical research that could be applied and added value to the owner. He also worked tirelessly to create collaborations and partnerships to solve industry needs and challenges.
Bob retired from professional work in 2012. Among his numerous awards and recognitions are Iowa State’s Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering; voted Professor of the Year four times by his Purdue students, and election to university honorary societies: Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Chi Epsilon, Beta Tau, Iron Key, and Mortar Board. In 2012, Bob was awarded the DBIA Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award. He founded, and for six years chaired, the Board of Directors for the Inland Empire, California regional affiliate of the National Architects, Construction and Engineers (ACE) Mentor program. He served on the Board of Trustees of the formerly named Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California, currently California Botanic Garden.
He and his wife Ann Joslin Tener were active in service and leadership work on community boards and city committees. Giving back was a core principle he lived by.
He will be remembered as a devoted husband, loving father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He was known for his intellect, talents, generosity, caring, and warmth. He loved music, the mountains, botanical gardens, and developing people as well as structures. He lived an extraordinary life. He will be forever loved and never forgotten.
― Jeff Russell, 2022
― Hans Van Winkle 2022
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