The Shortridge Hardesty Award is one of the most prestigious awards given by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The ASCE is a professional body founded in 1852 with over 150,000 members from 177 countries. Award recipients have been world-leading researchers who have contributed substantially in applying fundamental results of research to solution of practical engineering problems in the field of structural stability. Since the inception of the award in 1987 until recently, the award had been given to a recipient from Asia only once, in 2005. A monetary award of US$1,950 was received.