Arnold W. Siegel

Mr. Arnold W. Siegel is a pioneer in the field of automotive safety.

His innovative, life-changing research has led to numerous safety features that are now common in production vehicles. He helped pioneer research on barrier, side-impact, rollover head-on, motorcycle and pedestrian crashes. He built the first infant and child dummies, crash tested them and worked on and designed the first rear facing infant safety seats and child booster seats resulting in significantly fewer injuries and deaths in auto accidents. In collaboration with others, he worked to reveal critical automotive safety issues and create life-saving solutions, bringing injury prevention to the forefront, forever altering the way automobiles are engineered.

Mr. Siegel helped initiate SAE International’s entry in the automotive safety field and contributed to many SAE standards and conferences; the result of which has greatly improved auto safety globally. Through the years, he has served as a university research professor and industry consultant.

Collaborating with a physician in 1960, Mr. Siegel began non-fatal, on-scene accident investigation using multi-disciplinary teams. He co-directed trauma research groups and developed and organized training programs for several governmental agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Mr. Siegel has been a major factor in the success of both SAE International and the SAE Foundation. He has served on the SAE International Board of Directors, numerous Society committees, sub-committees and operating boards. In addition, he also has been a long-standing member of the SAE Foundation’s Board of Trustees and, for years, served as co-chair of the SAE-managed STAPP Car Crash conference, which helped to place SAE International at the center of automotive safety progress. In 1987, Mr. Siegel established the Arnold W. Siegel International Transportation Safety Award. This prestigious award is presented at the SAE Awards Ceremony: Honoring Excellence, which is held during SAE’s annual World Congress.

He has been instrumental in the success of the SAE Foundation’s $25 million capital campaign and in helping raise funds to support SAE’s STEM education programs.

Mr. Siegel is an SAE International Fellow, SAE Medal of Honor recipient, a member of the California Association of Criminalists, Sigma Xi and is a professional safety engineer. He was a member of the Attorney General’s Traffic Safety Committee and the California Passenger Safety Resource Panel, and has been a consultant to many agencies and companies, including Physicians for Automotive Safety, and the SAE International Accident Investigation Practices Subcommittee. He has received many accolades and awards, including: the Abelson Leadership Award 2008; Montana Ambassador’s Plenipotentiary 2001 Award; the Humanitarian Fellowship Award; Save the Children Federation Distinguished Service Award; the Legacy of Gold Award from West Yellowstone Foundation. Mr. Siegel has provided more than 50 years of dedicated and meritorious service to SAE International and the SAE Foundation.