Texas Section 1988 President and former ASCE Board member Malcolm L. Steinberg Sr., a state Department of Transportation engineer and author, has died at 90.
Steinberg, P.E., F.ASCE, enjoyed a 40-year career as a transportation engineer for the state in San Antonio and El Paso. An active ASCE membership included his Section presidency and as president of a local branch. He served on the ASCE Board of Direction, representing District 15, now Region 6.
He served on the Transportation Research Board and in other engineering research groups.
Born and raised in the Bronx in New York City as the only child of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, Steinberg and eventually married and moved to Texas to raise a family. After serving briefly in the U.S. Navy, Steinberg received a degree in engineering from Cornell in 1946 at the age of 19.
Decades later in retirement, Steinberg wrote the first biography of U.S. Navy Adm. Jeremy Michael Boorda, a runaway Jewish boy who enlisted and rose through the ranks to become chief of naval operations in the 1990s.
Steinberg’s honors included the Texas Section’s Award of Honor for lifetime achievement, and as a member of the National Society of Professional Engineers’ El Paso Chapter, Engineer of the Year in 1992. His active community involvement included serving as San Antonio NW Rotary Club president and on committees in El Paso. He was a board member of the San Antonio Jewish Federation and chaired its community relations committee.
I had a number of meetings with Malcolm in the late 80’s as a green engineer rep for a construction products company. I distinctly remember him as very generous with his time and advice on a number of proposals I made to him. He was one of a few engineers I’ve called on over the years that stand out as being invaluable to my career success.