After a nearly 45-year career as a structural engineer, Jay Love retired from Degenkolb Engineers on August 29, 2024. Jay began his career at Degenkolb as an intern and then returned to the firm full-time after receiving his Master of Science degree from the University of California, Berkeley.  

In his early career at the firm, Jay developed experience with a broad range of project types. One of the earliest projects was for Westinghouse, the 23,000 square foot industrial facility included foundations for heavy machinery. In 1981, Jay started on his first hospital, a 45,000 square foot addition at Alta Bates Medical Center with Anshen + Allen Architects. 

Following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Jay’s professional career focused on helping healthcare clients meet the demands of seismic safety in patient care settings.  He was an early leader and trusted advisor to many clients in developing seismic retrofit and complex infrastructure upgrades to meet stringent seismic standards for existing buildings.  He was Principal-in-Charge of multiple new hospital projects for Sutter Health, UCSF, and Kaiser Permanente in California.  He has been instrumental in bringing advanced structural systems and analyses to his projects.  This is highlighted in his Sutter Van Ness Campus project where he was the first to bring viscous wall damper technology, developed in Japan, to a California hospital.     Jay is a Lean Project Delivery advocate.  He credits his work with Sutter Health and the University of California Berkeley, PS2L project with helping him develop stronger partnerships across the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. He leaves the firm having mentored many in the healthcare practice in technical expertise, quality control and client service. 

Reflecting on Jay’s career at Degenkolb, Jorn Halle, Healthcare Practice Area Leader and Chief Client Officer said, “Jay always strived for the best value solution for our clients.  He challenged the norms, thought creatively, brought in new processes and technologies, and taught his teams how to navigate technical challenges to deliver great solutions.  Jay set an example of technical excellence.”