Brian Bowen is passionate about history--Construction History. Georgia Tech School of Building Construction, Professor of the Practice, Brian Bowen is so passionate about the history of the industry that he formed the Construction History Society of America (CHSA)

When Bowen started researching the topic in late 1990’s he discovered very little was to be found. There was no textbook or research being conducted in the U.S. He put together a short presentation for a continuing education class and found, “we all wanted more, it was one hell of a good story”.

With support from his colleagues in the College of Architecture, Bowen dug further in to the history of the industry. In 2006 He attended a conference in the United Kingdom and discovered a society of like-minded historians. But nothing like this existed in the U.S. While at the conference in UK, Bowen met a researcher from MIT, and together they stood up and committed to opening a society in the U.S.

The Construction History Society of America (CHSA) was born. They committed to hosting a national meeting every two years. The first was held at Georgia Tech in 2008.  Interest in the organization continued to grow. CHSA hosted the first International Congress held in the U.S. In June 2015, over 270 delegates from around the world attended the conference.

As the organization grows, Professor Bowen wants to see Construction History tied more to the academic curriculum in architecture, engineering, and construction. He said there is a barrier getting people interested in history, but will continue to promote the discipline. “We study history to equip us best to guide the future”.  “Our industry in particular has made incredible contributions to history”.

He believes studying construction history can create pride and lead people to understand that construction is a good industry to build a career. Bowen approached Engineering News Record (ENR) about a story. For years they did not think history would be relevant to their readers. Now as the industry faces a shortage of talent, they finally relented to an op/ed piece.  http://enr.construction.com/opinions/viewpoint/2015/0511-does-construction-history-matter.asp

Bowen teaches a course at Georgia Tech-“History of the Construction Industry”. He is excited and hopeful that a new generation of students and researchers will continue to delve in to construction history and say, “Look at what we have done”.

To learn more about CHSA:  http://www.constructionhistorysociety.org/