Insightful address will focus on two high profile investigations, demonstrating technical expertise with a passion for lifelong learning.
The Institution of Structural Engineers’ (IStructE) 2025 Gold Medallist, Glenn Bell CEng FIStructE, will deliver his Gold Medal address on the 7 November 2025, titled Learning from Failures: From the Hyatt Regency Walkways to Champlain Towers South.
The lecture is a free event, with bookings now open:
https://www.istructe.org/events/hq/2025/gold-medal-address-2025/
Glenn’s presentation will share his extensive insights from a career spanning five decades, drawing on his leadership of two high-profile investigations – the collapse of Hyatt Regency Walkways in July 1981 and the partial collapse of Champlain Towers South in June 2021.
Glenn is the co-lead on the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST), investigation into the Champlain Towers condominium incident, with its interim findings announced in June 2025.
The address promises to demonstrate a powerful perspective on the role of forensic engineering to shape a resilient built environment, exploring how studying structural failures can enhance design practice and improve public safety.
IStructE’s Gold Medal is awarded annually for outstanding contributions to the advancement of structural engineering. It was awarded to Glenn for his “significant contributions to structural engineering, particularly in the areas of building safety, standards development, and forensic investigations of catastrophic failures.”
Glenn’s biography
- Glenn Bell spent 45 years at Simpson Gumpertz and Heger (SGH), where he engaged in the design, investigation and rehabilitation of building structures, building envelopes and other structures.
- He was SGH’s CEO from 1995 through 2016 and its Board Chair from 2016 through 2018.
- Glenn was Co-Founder of the ASCE Technical Council on Forensic Engineering (now the ASCE Forensic Engineering Division).
- Glenn is Past President of SEI, a past Director of IStructE, and a Board Member of the Charles Pankow Foundation.
