Robert Tener

Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering
College of Engineering
Established in 1968 to recognize superior technical or professional accomplishments in research, development, administration, education, and other engineering activities; the citation recognizes alumni/alumnae eminently known for their professional competence and creativity

Robert Kinley Tener

MS Civil/Structural Engineering ’62
PhD Civil/Structural Engineering ’67
Claremont, Calif.

Robert Tener has compiled a lifelong career of remarkable engineering achievements spanning five-plus decades in four distinctly separate arenas: military, service engineer, academia, and management. He crosses disciplines without missing a beat—from the private sector to the public sector and from government to higher education. Tener is called to serve, and he delivers.

Immediately after receiving his degree from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point in 1957, Tener began a 27-year career in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer. He rose through the ranks, earning early promotions to both Major and Lt. Colonel. His career led him to a position at the Pentagon, as well as to a faculty position in civil engineering at West Point. He received the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievements in Vietnam in 1968, a Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding service as a U.S. Military Academy faculty member in 1972, and a Meritorious Service Medal for meritorious service as Battalion Commander in Germany in 1975.

As a senior executive in the Corps of Engineers, Tener oversaw an annual $200 million operation that covered five states and more than 1,000 employees. He continued up the Corps ladder to the executive staff at the Corps of Engineers Headquarters in Washington D.C., where he developed and administered nationwide programs for the Corps’ $3-billion civil works.

Tener has also served as assistant professor of civil engineering and consulting executive and director of internships at Purdue University. In his role as the director of the Charles Pankow Foundation, Tener currently serves in yet another key leadership role within the U.S. construction engineering industry. His oversight of the charitable, science-based grants managed through this highly regarded foundation plays an acute and direct role in fostering critical advances within the U.S. building design and construction sector.