Mary Hurd, one of the most influential writers and editors to specialize in concrete, passed away in September at age 87.
Hurd is best known for writing every edition of the American Concrete Institute’s “Formwork for Concrete, SP-4,” considered the definitive book about structural concrete practices. The first edition was published in 1963, and the book is in its seventh edition today.
Hurd also served as editor in chief and engineering editor of Concrete Construction magazine and was a frequent contributor to the publication. She often worked under the pen name M.K. Hurd, a practice she adopted at first to disguise her gender in a less enlightened time.
Hurd received many awards, including ACI’s Construction Practice Award, and she was the first woman to receive the Anson Marston Medal, the highest award bestowed by Iowa State’s College of Engineering. She was also a member of ACI Committee 124, Concrete Aesthetics.
