Ian G. Buckle (M. EERI 1989), President of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) from 2013 to 2014, has been named a 2023 EERI Honorary Member, in recognition of his lasting contributions to research on seismic and tsunami performance of bridge structures and his leadership of efforts to promote earthquake engineering research and its dissemination. Honorary membership is awarded to recognize EERI members who have made sustained and outstanding contributions to the field of earthquake engineering and/or to the Institute and the pursuit of its objectives.
Buckle is currently the Foundation Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). A native of New Zealand, he received his bachelor and doctoral degrees in engineering from the University of Auckland, followed by postdoctoral study at the University of California, Berkeley. He taught at the University of Auckland for over a decade, later serving as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research, and was also a professor of Civil Engineering and the Deputy Director of the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at the University at Buffalo. Long recognized as a renowned international leader in the study of seismic and tsunami performance of bridge structures, Buckle has developed and applied innovative experimental techniques to reproduce the seismic response of large structural systems in the laboratory. He led the development of a shaking table test technique in which multiple shaking tables are synchronized to reproduce the spatial variation of ground shaking, which is known to significantly affect the seismic response of long structures such as long-span bridges. He has conducted post-earthquake reconnaissance in many countries, including Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, and serves as an expert advisor to Caltrans.
In addition to his service as EERI President, Buckle was the Inaugurating President of the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) from 2004-2008. He received the Special Achievement Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction in 2014 and the Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2016, and was named the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents’ Distinguished Researcher in 2021. He will be presented with the Honorary Membership at the 2023 EERI Annual Meeting in California next spring.
