Glenn Bell: Gold Medal address 2025

Career Profiles

Author

Glenn Bell

Date published

8 November 2025

Author

Glenn Bell

Price

Free

Watch the 2025 Gold Medallist Glenn Bell's address 'Learning from failure: from the Hyatt Regency walkways to Champlain Tower South', highlighting how we can learn from the failures.

The Gold Medal is the Institution’s highest individual honour. The 2025 award has been presented to Glenn Bell in recognition of his significant contributions to structural engineering, particularly in the areas of building safety, standards development, and forensic investigations of catastrophic failures.

To celebrate his achievement, Glenn delivers the Gold Medal Address, Learning from Failures: From the Hyatt Regency Walkways to Champlain Tower South. In this presentation, Glenn Bell shares insights from a career spanning five decades. Drawing on his leadership in high-profile investigations, from the Hyatt Regency Walkways to the Champlain Towers South collapse, Glenn explores how studying structural failures can enhance design practice and improve public safety. With a unique blend of technical expertise and a passion for lifelong learning, he demonstrates a powerful perspective on the role of forensic engineering in shaping a resilient built environment.

Watch Glenn's address, delivered live at the Institution of Structural Engineers, encompassing a thorough reflection on his career to date.

About Glenn Bell

Glenn is a distinguished structural engineer with a career spanning over four decades at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH), where he made significant contributions to the design, investigation, and rehabilitation of building structures, building envelopes, and other complex structures. Over his 45-year tenure, Glenn held several key leadership roles, serving as Chief Executive Officer from 1995 to 2016 and subsequently as Chair of the Board from 2016 to 2018.

A leader in the advancement of forensic engineering, Glenn co-founded the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Technical Council on Forensic Engineering, which has since evolved into the ASCE Forensic Engineering Division. His commitment to professional service also includes serving as President of the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), as a Director of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), and as a current Board Member of the Charles Pankow Foundation.

Throughout his career, Glenn has demonstrated a deep commitment to technical excellence, industry leadership, and the continuous improvement of the structural engineering profession.