John M. Hochwalt, P.E., S.E., Director of Engineering at KPFF Consulting Engineers-Seattle Structural Group, was presented with the 2021 Haller Award during The Masonry Society’s Annual Meeting on October 14, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee.

As Director of Engineering at KPFF Consulting Engineers-Seattle Structural Group he provides technical leadership for over one hundred structural engineers. Prior to joining KPFF in 1998, he worked with RTKL in Baltimore and Barber & Hoffman in Cleveland. In addition to providing engineering services for the design of new buildings and retrofit of existing buildings, he has taught structural design of masonry the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations, the Structural Engineers Association of Washington, the Northwest Concrete Masonry Association, The Masonry Society, and the University of Washington.

Hochwalt is very active within TMS, serving as chair of the Seismic and Limit State Design Subcommittee, a voting member of the TMS 402 Main Committee, a corresponding member of the Design Practices Committee, and a member of the TMS Board of Directors. For his service to TMS, he also received the 2020 TMS Service Award.

As an author, Hochwalt has made been a major contributor to many publications. He is the current editor of Reinforced Masonry Engineering Handbook, co-author of Strength Design of Masonry, and has contributed to TMS Responds. As part of a group that submitted a rewrite proposal for the TMS 402 veneer chapter, Hochwalt also assisted with the development of new engineered design methods for anchored masonry veneer.

The Haller Award is given to an individual engineer or an engineering firm that has enhanced the knowledge of masonry in practice. This award recognizes the beauty, elegance, and economy of structural masonry projects.