Manuel Berberian is an Iranian-Armenian earth scientist. He was born on the 27th of October 1945 into an immigrant Armenian family in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. He specializes in

earthquake seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

, active faulting and folding, active

tectonics Tectonics ( via Latin ) are the processes that result in the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. The field of ''planetary tectonics'' extends the concept to other planets and moons. These processes ...

, continental tectonics, historical

seismicity Seismicity is a measure encompassing earthquake occurrences, mechanisms, and magnitude at a given geographical location. As such, it summarizes a region's seismic activity. The term was coined by Beno Gutenberg and Charles Francis Richter in 194 ...

, archaeoseismicity, earthquake hazard minimization,

geological mapping A geological map or geologic map is a special-purpose map made to show various geological features. Rock units or geologic strata are shown by color or symbols. Bedding planes and structural features such as faults, folds, are shown with s ...

, and environmental science and engineering.

Biography

Berberian was born on October 27, 1945, into an immigrant Armenian family in

. The family had previously fled

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

during the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. His mother is an Assyrian Christian from Rezaiyeh, Iran. He attended primary school and high school in Iran, graduating in 1958 and 1964 respectively. He received a B.S. in geology with high honors from the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

in 1968. Since 1971 he has been engaged in scholarly research, He has taught at the

Tarbiat Modares University Tarbiat Modares University (: ''Dāneshgāh-e Tarbiyat Modarres'', lit. "Professor Training University") is a graduate public university located in Tehran, Iran. Faculties Tarbiat Modares University (TMU) was established in 1982 and is a comp ...

, Tehran and

Ocean County College Ocean County College (OCC) is a public community college in Ocean County, New Jersey. Its main campus is in Toms River. Other locations include the Southern Education Center in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township and multiple off-camp ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. He joined the Geological Survey of Tehran in 1971, and established the Tectonics and Seismotectonics Research Department. He married his wide Rose in

Grenoble, France Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the capital of the Dauphiné historical province and lies where the river Drac flows in ...

in 1976. She holds a master's degree in mineralogy from the

University of Grenoble The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a Grands établissements, ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Es ...

. They lived together in Tehran for two years before relocating to the United Kingdom Berberian received his Ph.D. in earthquake

seismology Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic ...

and active

from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, United Kingdom, in June 1981. His dissertation advisors were Geoffrey King and Dan McKenzie. He completed his dissertation called "Continental Deformation in the Iranian Plateau", becoming the first Armenian and second Iranian graduate of the Earth Science Department of the University of Cambridge. (His wife was the first Iranian woman to complete a Ph.D. at Cambridge). Since 1990, Barberian, his wife and son are living in the United States.

Honors

2013: The First Iranian and First Armenian Earth Scientist ever honored by the

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hi ...

(GSA) during its 125th Anniversary Annual Conference Special Meeting Dedicated to his over 40-yr of research and contribution to the world Earth Science at Denver, Colorado, United States, in October 2013, Sessions 214 & 291, T188: Tethyan Evolution and Seismotectonics of Southwest Asia (GSA Structural Geology and Tectonics Division; GSA Quaternary Geology & Geomorphology Division; GSA Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Petrology, & Volcanology Division). 2008: A new fossil species of

Chondrichthyes Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class of jawed fish that contains the cartilaginous fish or chondrichthyans, which all have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fish'', which have skeleto ...

(jawed fish) named in honor of Berberian in recognition of his contribution to the tectonic evolution of the

Iranian Plateau The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature spanning parts of the Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. It makes up part of the Eurasian plate, and is wedged between the Arabian plate and the Indian plate. ...

References

External links

Manuel Berberian official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berberian, Manuel Armenian geologists Iranian geologists Iranian expatriates in the United Kingdom Iranian emigrants to the United States American people of Armenian descent Ethnic Armenian scientists Living people 1945 births Scientists from Tehran Iranian people of Armenian descent