[2] Hetényi obtained a degree in civil engineering from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 1931.
In 1962 he went to Stanford University, where he formed a new Experimental Stress Analysis Laboratory[4] and continued to teach until his retirement in 1972.
He is considered one of the four founding members of the society along with Charles Lipson, Raymond D. Mindlin and William M.
[7] SESA initiated the Hetényi Award in his honor in 1967 for the best research paper published in Experimental Mechanics.
Hetényi gave the Murray Lecture in 1954 and was named the second Honorary Member of the Society in 1956, a position held until his death in 1984.