Gregory L. Deierlein (M. EERI 1989) has been named a 2023 EERI Honorary Member in recognition of his research on improving the design of constructed facilities through the development and application of nonlinear structural analysis methods and performance-based design criteria. 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.
Deierlein is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center at Stanford University. He earned his BS in civil engineering from Cornell University, MS in structural engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and his PhD in structural engineering from the University of Texas, Austin. Deierlein specializes in the seismic design and behavior of structures, computational simulation of buildings and civil infrastructure, and performance-based engineering. Early in his career, he worked as a practicing structural engineer and was involved in the design of the 70-story Bank of China Building (Hong Kong) and other landmark projects. He has led major collaborative research projects, involving teams from the U.S., Japan, and Taiwan, to develop and test innovative composite steel-concrete frame systems, self-centering braced frame systems, and light-frame residential construction. His research focuses on improving limit states design of constructed facilities through the development and application of nonlinear structural analysis methods and performance-based design criteria. He is the co-Director of the NSF supported Computational Modeling and Simulation Center of the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) and formerly was the former Deputy Director of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center. He is also active in the development of building code standards and initiatives to promote community resilience to natural hazards.
Deierlein received the EERI Distinguished Lecture Award in 2016 and presented his lecture, "From Performance-Based Engineering to Earthquake Resilience," at the 68th Annual Meeting. A member of the EERI Board of Directors from 2016- 2020, he currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Geohazards International and on the American Institute of Steel Construction’s Specification Committee. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2013 and is a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the recipient of the ASCE’s Shortridge Hardesty Award and the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California’s Krawinkler Award. He will be presented with the Honorary Membership at the 2023 EERI Annual Meeting in California next spring.
