George W. Housner (December 9, 1910 in

Saginaw, Michigan Saginaw () is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw and Saginaw County are both in the area known as Mid-Michigan. Saginaw is adjacent to Saginaw Charter Township and considered part of Greater ...

– November 10, 2008 in Pasadena, California) was a professor of earthquake engineering at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

and

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

laureate.

Biography

Housner received his bachelor's degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where he was influenced by

Stephen Timoshenko Stepan Prokofyevich Timoshenko (russian: Степан Прокофьевич Тимошенко, p=sʲtʲɪˈpan prɐˈkofʲjɪvʲɪtɕ tʲɪmɐˈʂɛnkə; uk, Степан Прокопович Тимошенко, Stepan Prokopovych Tymoshenko; ...

. He earned his masters' (1934) and doctoral (1941) degrees from the

where he had been a professor of earthquake engineering from 1945 to 1981, and Professor Emeritus thereafter. Annually, in recognition of those who made extraordinary contributions to the earthquake safety research, practices and policies,

EERI The Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) is a leading technical society in dissemination of earthquake risk and earthquake engineering research both in the U.S. and globally. EERI members include researchers, geologists, geotechnical e ...

awards The George W. Housner Medal of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. On his death, Housner left a substantial gift to EERI "to advance the objectives of EERI". This gift has been used to train future earthquake engineering policy advocates and thought leaders through the EERI Housner Fellows Program, which has been active since 2011. Housner died of natural causes November 10, 2008 in Pasadena, California at the age of 97.

Partial list of achievements

* Chairman of the earthquake engineering research committee of the National Academy of Sciences * Formed the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute * UNESCO representative to International Institute of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering in Tokyo * AEC advisory panel on safety against ground shock * AID consultant at University of Roorkee, India * Chairman of Geologic Hazards Advisory Committee for California State Resources Agency * Chairman of Panel on Seismic Design and Testing of Nuclear Facilities for International Atomic Energy Agency International Atomic Energy Agency
Aseismic Design and Testing of Nuclear Facilities
Technical Reports Series No. 88, IAEA, Vienna. p. 46 * On Los Angeles County Earthquake Commission * Member of Earthquake Engineering and Hazards Reduction Delegation to People's Republic of China * Consultant to Japanese Atomic Energy Commission and Italian Nuclear Energy Commission and numerous nuclear energy projects in the U.S. * Elected to National Academy of Sciences 1972 * Named Braun Professor of Engineering at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

1974 * Chairman of NRC's Earthquake Society and International Association * Delivered second Mallet-Milne memorial lecture for

Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics The Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics (SECED) was founded in 1969 to promote the study and practice of earthquake engineering and structural dynamics, including blast, impact and other vibration problems. It also supports study o ...

in London, 1989

Biography

Partial list of achievements

References

Further reading