Robert Barker Brack Memorial Scholarship
The Robert Barker Brack Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of a man who had tremendous impact on the people with whom he worked, the industry he grew and the organization to which he contributed so much.
Bob was born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1938. In 1960, Bob earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering at UMass Amherst and later completed his Master of Education at Northeastern University.
Upon graduating in 1960, Bob joined the family business, Barker Steel Company, as the third generation following his father, Robert, and his grandfather, Harold Barker, who founded the company in 1920. Bob left the steel business briefly in 1963 to teach material science at Wentworth Institute of Technology, before returning to Barker Steel in 1964 to stay. Bob became CEO of the company in 1976 and under his leadership Barker Steel grew from a small one-shop company in Watertown, Massachusetts to having 17 locations in 11 states and more than 600 employees at its peak. Bob was very proud when his son Bill joined Barker Steel in 1995, representing the fourth generation of family in the business.
Under Bob’s leadership, Barker Steel became one of the largest independent reinforcing steel fabricators in the United States and furnished reinforcing steel for concrete construction throughout New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Barker Steel fabricated reinforcing steel for thousands of projects large and small, both public and private. Barker Steel fabricated most of the reinforcing steel for the “Big Dig” – the Central Artery/Third Harbor Tunnel (CA/T) project and helped rebuild New York City after 9/11, including furnishing the reinforcing steel for several of the World Trade projects and the Freedom Tower.
Bob sold Barker Steel to Nucor/Harris Rebar in 2007 and he “formally” retired in 2012, never letting go of his lifelong passion for the rebar business. Through his compassionate leadership and caring ethos, Bob touched the lives of thousands of families over his 50-year career at Barker Steel.
Bob was a “lifelong member” of the Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) serving as treasurer, executive board member and president of both the CRSI and the CRSI Education & Research Foundation. In 2012, he was awarded the first-ever CRSI Distinguished Service Award which recognized his career-long dedication to the reinforced concrete industry and the CRSI.
Bob remained engaged with his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, serving on the Civil and Environmental Engineering Advisory Committee and supporting the establishment of the Robert Brack Structural Testing Facility at Tilson, among other activities.
Bob passed in the Fall of 2021. After his passing, Barker Steel along with his family and colleagues established the CRSI Foundation Robert Barker Brack Memorial Scholarship to be granted to a student or students at the University of Massachusetts and Wentworth Institute of Technology who are pursuing a career in structural engineering or reinforcing steel.