Iowa State University
Bio
Ph.D., PE(VA), F.SEI, Dist.M.ASCE
W. Samuel Easterling is the James L. and Katherine S. Melsa Dean of Engineering at Iowa State University. He previously served as a faculty member at Virginia Tech, where upon his departure he was the Montague-Betts Professor of Structural Steel Design and Department Head in the Via Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in Virginia. Dr. Easterling received his BS and MS in Civil Engineering from West Virginia University and his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from Iowa State University.
A member of several professional organizations, Dr. Easterling is active within the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society for Engineering Education. He presently serves as the Vice-Chair of AISC Task Committee 5 – Composite Construction and is a member of the AISC Committee on Specifications. Easterling currently serves as the Chair of the American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Deans Council Public Policy Committee. He has also served as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers committees on Composite Construction and LRFD, as well as ASCE Standards Committees for composite slabs and beams with web openings. He served as Chair of the ASCE Department Heads Coordinating Council from 2016- 2018.
In addition to his professional service, Dr. Easterling has been active in university governance. While a faculty member at Virginia Tech, he served as President of the Faculty Senate in 2004-2005, Chair of the Commission on Faculty Affairs, Chair of the Commission on Research and as a member of the University Council. He served as the faculty representative to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors in 2004- 2005.
Dr. Easterling has taught courses in structural steel design and cold-formed steel design. His primary research interests are in the areas of composite and cold-formed steel structures. He has directed research dealing with composite slabs, partially-restrained connections, composite beams, joists and joist girders, composite shear connectors, and cold-formed steel diaphragms, members and connections. Easterling is currently part of a multi-university, multi-industrial sponsored research effort related to innovative floor systems in steel-framed buildings.
Dr. Easterling has been recognized for his work in the area of composite construction with the Steel Deck Institute John Gundel Award in 1987, the ASCE Walter L. Huber Prize in 1998, the ASCE State-of-the-Art of Civil Engineering Award in 1996 and 2000 as a member of the Task Committee on Design Criteria for Composite Structures in Steel and Concrete, the 2002 AISC T. R. Higgins Lectureship Award, the AISC Special Achievement Award in 2012 and 2024, the 2017 ASCE Shortridge Hardesty Award and the 2020 AISC Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the 2019 recipient of the Lynn S. Beedle Award from the Structural Stability Research Council. Easterling has been recognized by Iowa State University with an Alumni Association Young Alumnus Award in 1998 and a College of Engineering Professional Progress in Engineering Award in
2003. He was elected a Distinguished Member in ASCE in 2023 and a Fellow of the Structural Engineering Institute in 2014. At Virginia Tech, he was recognized with a Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service in 2004 and was elected to the Academy of Faculty Service in 2014.
Easterling is a proud WVU graduate. He has lectured annually in Civil Engineering classes for more than a decade. He was elected to the West Virginia Academy of Civil Engineers in 2007, has served on the Wadsworth Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Committee and presently serves on the Statler College of Engineering Visiting Committee.
