Tall & Urban News

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat mourns the loss of Charles H. Thornton, Founding Principal of Thornton Tomasetti, and a renowned structural engineer who was an instrumental figure in the design and construction of some of the world’s tallest and most well-known buildings.  

Thronton died on 12 December 2023 in Maryland at the age of 83.  As an awardee of the CTBUH Fazlur Khan Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012, with partner Richard Tomasetti, his contributions to engineering and education are insurmountable. He developed a reputation for innovation and excellence, often taking on technically challenging projects others said couldn’t be done. 

Born in 1940 in the Bronx, New York, Thornton earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Manhattan College and master’s and doctoral degrees from New York University. He was well known for his work on Petronas Towers in Malaysia, which held the title of the world’s tallest from 1998 to 2004, until another building he was involved in, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan (CTBUH 2016 Performance Award Winner), surpassed this title.  Other well-known projects include the World Financial Center buildings in New York City, part of Brookfield Place, and the Devon Energy Center in Oklahoma City (CTBUH 2013 Best Tall Building, Americas, Award of Excellence & CTBUH 2022 10 Year, Award of Excellence).

Equally as important, he tirelessly gave back to the community, helping to train the next generation of structural engineers, founding of the ACE Mentor Program of America, a non-profit organization he founded in 1994 that introduces high school students to potential careers in architecture, construction, and the engineering industry.  He had been active with the Council as a speaker at CTBUH conferences and other contributions. His memoir, Charles H. Thornton: A Life of Elegant Solutions, was reviewed by the CTBUH Journal shortly after its publication in 2014. 

"Engineering, at its core, is about shaping the future. It is through our collective efforts that we have the power to create structures that not only stand tall but also stand as reminders of human ingenuity."
 – Charles H. Thornton

From our archives:
Watch a CTBUH interview with Charles Thornton and Richard Tomasetti in 2012.