The Passing of a Giant of Bay Area Structural Engineering

It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we inform you of the death of SOHA Engineers’ beloved founder and friend, Daniel Shapiro, who passed away of natural causes on October 22, 2023, at the age of 98. We will all miss Dan more than words can express. He was not just our leader, but a great friend and a dedicated mentor for those of us at SOHA and many others in the engineering community.

Since establishment of SOHA in 1965, Dan’s professional legacy in the San Francisco Bay Area is expansive and has left an indelible mark on our community’s landscape through his common sense and elegant approach to Structural Engineering. However, undoubtably, Dan’s most admirable quality was his unshakable honor and integrity with utmost priority to advancement of Structural Engineering for the purpose of improving public safety through advancement of building performance.

Dan Shapiro was born in 1924, and had an impressive structural engineering career for over 60 years. After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley in 1949 and serving in the United States Army for two years, Dan went to work for Bechtel and then John Sardis & Associates before leaving to establish SOHA Engineers in 1965. With his business partners Harry Okino and John Hom, Dan focused on state-of-the-art seismic engineering. He led the effort on a much-needed seismic rehabilitation of San Francisco schools in the late 1960’s. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Dan led the effort to pass the San Francisco UMB Ordinance, the first ordinance to mandate structural retrofits of a targeted segment building stock at risk for severe earthquake damage. This ordinance paved the way for further legislation, such as the 2013 San Francisco Soft Story Program and Non-Ductile Concrete Ordinance in Los Angeles.

Towards the end of his career, Dan stayed involved professionally to provide guidance on seismic codes and standards. He was the project director for FEMA 273: Guidelines and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings, the predecessor to ASCE 41: Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings. He also continued to serve on the Building Seismic Safety Council until 2010.

On behalf of SOHA Engineers and many friends and colleagues of Dan, we offer our condolences to the Shapiro family.

Awards & Accomplishments

• SEAONC President (1969)
• ATC President (1980)
• SEAONC H.J. Brunnier Lifetime Achievement Award (2003)
• California Earthquake Safety Foundation Alfred E. Alquist Medal (2003)
• SEAONC Honorary Member
• ASCE Fellow