An interview with Tom Jarrett

摘要

Tom Jarrett won the Morrough P. O'Brien Award in 2019. This is the ASBPA's highest award, given annually to an individual or organizational member of ASBPA on the basis of 1) an outstanding record in achieving the objectives and ideals of ASBPA; and/or 2) for major direct contributions to ASBPA.Can you remember what you wanted to do when you were young (in high school or earlier)?Jarrett: Not really. I guess my main aptitude during my formative years was primarily mathematical. I was pretty good at math. English and other things maybe not so much. So when the time came to make a decision on what to do after high school I picked N.C. State simply because of my math skills. I really didn't know what I was going to do with that, but the way things were structured at N.C. State, once I got in I had an orientation period where I could see what the different engineering schools had to offer, and I eventually picked civil and went on from there. You didn't really specialize though at that level, you were taking a spectrum of courses - solid mechanics, structural, that sort of thing.