Adel Saada *61

Tony died Nov. 2, 2025, in Shaker Heights, Ohio,

Born Oct. 24, 1934, in Heliopolis, Egypt, Tony graduated from Cairo University in 1955. He studied at Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures de Paris and the University of Grenoble, specializing in geotechnical engineering. He earned a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Princeton in 1961.

In 1962, Tony joined the faculty of Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve),  working there for 60 years. Specializing in soil mechanics and foundation engineering, he built a program in geotechnical engineering and developed a teaching and research soils laboratory and equipment for testing hollow soil cylinders. The Saada Pneumatic Analog Computer (SPAC) was the first device to test soils in various synchronized combinations of stresses.

He published one of the first constitutive equations for anisotropic clay, and a textbook Elasticity, Theory, and Applications. Tony guided a joint U.S.-France research project on the behavior of granular noncohesive soil. The geomechanics division of the National Science Foundation and French government ministries supported the creation of a database and the validation of numerous constitutive equations. The updated database is still used by researchers.

Predeceased by his wife, Nancy, Tony is survived by his children Christiane S. Blume ’83 and Richard Saada ’86; and grandchildren Nathaniel Blume, Catherine Blume ’18, and Caroline and Steven Saada.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.