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<p><em>Robert Kinley “Bob” Tener</em> was born in Cleveland, OH to Alan L. and Grace Fawcett Tener. Known to all as Bob, he was the eldest of the “Three Tener Boys,” growing up in Noblesville, IN. His energy and impressive athletic and academic abilities were manifested in Bob’s pleasing personality and many friends.</p>
<p>An accomplished student in high school, Bob excelled in mathematics, music (as a clarinetist and a singer), and athletics (baseball and tennis). His favorite jobs during this time were lifeguarding at the community pool and working behind the soda fountain at Hutson’s Drug Store. Both served well as chick magnets.</p>
<p>Bob reported to the Academy in early July 1953, and, after seven weeks of Beast Barracks, he was assigned to Company C, First Regiment. Again, Bob proved to be an excellent student. He used his skills to tutor other cadets, especially in mathematics, and he pursued his love of music as a member of the Glee Club. He also was a member of the German and Ski clubs.</p>
<p>Bob was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers. He took Airborne and Ranger training at Fort Benning, GA and served initially in the 8th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (1958–61).</p>
<p>In 1958, Bob married Sara Sue Lorton. Together they had three children and traveled to more than 20 military assignments around the world. Bob balanced the demands of leading battalions of builders with family skiing trips in the Swiss Alps, swimming in the Mediterranean, and visiting castles and museums. He gifted his family with global experiences and an appreciation of altruism. </p>
<p>Bob completed his graduate studies with Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in structural engineering from Iowa State University in 1964. He worked on Engineering Expert Standards (1963–65) before his assignment to Engineering Elements in USAREUR (1965–67). After serving in Europe, he was stationed with the Executive Office of the 577th Construction Battalion in the Republic of Vietnam (1967–68). His principal military assignments included engineer troop duty in Korea and Vietnam as well as duty with the Army General Staff and the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon.</p>
<p>A graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS and the U.S. Naval War College, Bob then returned to West Point as an Instructor in Mechanics and an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering (1969–72). </p>
<p>As district engineer of Tennessee’s Cumberland River Valley, Bob headed up the Divide Cut of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway and numerous other large Corps projects located in six other states (1977–80). </p>
<p>Bob had a lifelong career of remarkable engineering achievements spanning five-plus decades in four distinctly separate arenas: military, service engineer, academe, and management. He crossed disciplines with significant achievements of national scope in the public, private, academic, and non-profit sectors. </p>
<p>During his military career, Bob received the Bronze Star for meritorious achievements in Vietnam (1968), a Meritorious Service Medal for outstanding service as a U.S. Military Academy faculty member (1972), and a Meritorious Service Medal for service as a battalion commander in Germany (1975). Bob rose through the ranks, earning early promotions to both major and lieutenant colonel. In 1984, he retired from military service at the rank of colonel in Dallas, TX.</p>
<p>Following retirement from the Army, Bob served on the federally funded program to build the Superconducting Super Collider, Waxahachie, TX. He was selected by the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, Dallas Chapter, as “Engineer of the Year” (1991). </p>
<p>A position on the Purdue University civil engineering faculty found Bob back home in Indiana for eight years. At Purdue he advocated for effective industry-university collaboration through leadership roles in the national education committees of the Associated General Contractors and the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 1995, Bob was one of the first of two academics to become a member of the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) and a Certified DBIA Professional.</p>
<p>In 2005, Bob became the founding executive director of the Charles Pankow Foundation, an applied research institute in California that advances best practices in the engineering, design, and construction industry.</p>
<p>Bob retired from professional work in 2012. Among his numerous awards and recognitions are Iowa State’s Professional Achievement Citation in Engineering, voted “Professor of the Year” four times by his Purdue students, and election to several university honorary societies: Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Chi Epsilon, Beta Tau, Iron Key, and Mortar Board. In 2012, Bob was awarded the DBIA Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award. He founded, and for six years chaired, the Board of Directors for the Inland Empire, California regional chapter of the National Architects, and the Construction and Engineers Mentor Program. Bob also served on the Board of Trustees of the formerly named Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden (currently California Botanic Garden) in Claremont, CA.</p>
<p>Bob and his wife Ann Joslin Tener lived in Claremont for 18 years, where both were active in service and leadership work on community boards and city committees. In 2018, the Teners retired to Bella Vista, AR.</p>
<p>He is predeceased by his first wife, Sara, his parents, and his brother Jim. He is survived by his wife Ann, his brother John, three children, five grandchildren and two great-grandsons. </p>
<p>Bob will be remembered for his intellect, integrity, talents, generosity, caring, and warmth. He loved music, the mountains, botanical gardens, and developing people as well as structures. He lived an extraordinary life, and he will be forever loved and never forgotten.</p>
<p><em>— The Tener Family and classmates</em></p>
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