Masanobu Shinozuka, a world-renowned engineering mechanics expert in earthquake and structural engineering, has joined the UC Irvine faculty as Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The title is awarded only to scholars deemed exceptional by The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and the Academic Senate.

Shinozuka is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, an elected foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of the American Society of Civil Engineering. He currently serves as chair of the research committee for the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research.

Shinozuka was professor of civil engineering and held the Fred Champion Chair of Civil Engineering at the University of Southern California since 1995. He also served as director of the International Institute of Innovative Risk Reduction Research on Civil Infrastructure Systems at USC.

Previously, Shinozuka was on the faculty at Princeton University from 1988 to 1995 and at Columbia University from 1958 to 1988. Shinozuka's research focuses on field theory and risk-assessment methodology in civil engineering. The applications for his work are in the areas of earthquake engineering in buildings, bridges and lifeline and environmental systems. His work highlights the multidisciplinary aspects of infrastructure system problems.

Shinozuka is a recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 1994 Theodore von Karman Medal from the American Society of Civil Engineers. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from Kyoto University, Japan, and his doctorate from Columbia University.

The Henry Samueli School of Engineering encompasses the departments of civil and environmental engineering, chemical and biochemical engineering, materials science, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical and aerospace engineering. It houses seven research centers, including the Center for Pervasive Communications, the Institute of Transportation Studies, the Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility, the National Fuel Cell Research Center and the Center for Biomedical Engineering. In addition, the school is an integral part of the newly founded California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, one of three California Institutes for Science and Innovation. 

Additional information is available at www.eng.uci.edu.