Catherine Ellen Wolfgram French is an American civil engineer whose research has concerned the effects of fatigue and earthquakes on reinforced concrete buildings and bridges. [1] She is a professor emerita in the University of Minnesota Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, [2] after previously being College of Science and Engineering Distinguished Professor and a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at the University of Minnesota. [3]
French is a 1975 graduate of Burnsville High School in Minnesota. [1] After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1979, she continued her studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she received a master's degree in 1980 and a Ph.D. in 1984. After completing her doctorate, she returned to the University of Minnesota as a faculty member in 1984. [3]
French became a distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2018. [1] She is also an honorary member of the American Concrete Institute. [4] She was named to the University of Minnesota Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2019. [5] In 2024, she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering "for design, safety, and construction of structural concrete buildings and bridges". [4]