Armen Der Kiureghian

Armen Der Kiureghian (Armenian: Արմէն Տէր-Կիւրեղեան, October 4, 1947), is an Iranian-born Armenian-American academic, serving as the president of American University of Armenia (2014),[1] Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of California, Member of the US National Academy of Engineering and Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

Armen Der Kiureghian
Born (1947-10-04) October 4, 1947
Isfahan, Iran
NationalityArmenian American
Alma materUniversity of Tehran
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Known forStructural and system reliability, risk analysis, stochastic structural dynamics, earthquake engineering
Spouse(s)Nelly Ouzounian (m. 1983)
ChildrenNaira, Sebouh
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of California
AUA president (2014)
WebsiteOfficial page

Biography

Armen Der Kiureghian was born in Isfahan in the family of prominent Armenian painter Sumbat Der Kiureghian. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran, and his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1975. In 1978 he joined the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley, where in 1978-1981 he was as Assistant Professor, and continued to be an Associate Professor (1981-1985), Professor (1985), Vice Chair (1990-1993) and Chair (1997-2001) of the Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials Program and as Vice Chair for Instruction in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Since July 1999, he has held the Taisei Chair in Civil Engineering in the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley.[2]

After the Spitak earthquake of 1988 in Armenia, Der Kiureghian played a leading role in establishing the American University of Armenia in Yerevan as an affiliate of the University of California. He served as the founding Dean of the College of Engineering (1991-2007) and as Interim Provost (2011-2012) of AUA concurrently with his position at Berkeley. He has also served as the founding Director of the Engineering Research Center of AUA (1991-2004), a has been founding member of the Board of Trustees of AUA.

Armen Der Kiureghian's teaching and research interests are in the areas of structural reliability, risk analysis,[3] random vibrations and earthquake engineering. He has pioneered methods for safety and reliability assessment of complex structures and for stochastic seismic analysis of buildings, bridges, and critical equipment. He has more than 300 publications, including more than 110 in archival journals and book chapters.

Der Kiureghian at AUA

Armen Der Kiureghian is a member of a number of societies and associations including:

  • Elected Member of the US National Academy of Engineering[4]
  • Elected Foreign Member of the National Academy of Engineering of Armenia, 1994
  • Elected Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, 1998[5]
  • Alfred M. Freudenthal Medal from the Engineering Mechanics Division of ASCE
  • George Winter Medal from the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE
  • Distinguished Alumnus of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2006
  • Distinguished Alumnus, Faculty of Engineering, Tehran University, Iran, 2004
  • Fulbright Distinguished Professor, University of Lubljana, Slovenia, 1989
  • Mitsubishi Chair Visiting Professor, Tokyo University, Japan, 1989

Awards
  • Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, ASCE, 1989
  • CERRA Award, Civil Engineering Risk and Reliability Association, 1999
  • Movses Khorenatsi Medal, Government of Armenia, 2001
  • Alfred M. Freudenthal Medal, Engineering Mechanics Division, ASCE, 2006
  • Thomas A. Middlebrooks Award, Goe-Institute, ASCE, 2006
  • 2007 Best Paper Award, Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, ASCE, 2008
  • Distinguished Research Award, International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability, 2013
  • George Winter Medal, Structural Engineering Institute, ASCE, 2014

Personal life

Der Kiureghian has two children, Naira[6] and Sebouh. He has been married to Nelly Ouzounian since 1983.

Painting as a hobby

Der Kiureghian's main hobby is painting watercolors which he learned from his father, Sumbat, who was a professional artist and watercolorist. He paints landscapes and still life.[7][8]

Books
  • Der Kiureghian, A. (2009). The life and art of Sumbat. ADK & Associates Publishers, San Francisco, CA. 172 pages.

References
  1. Contributor, Guest (2015-02-16). "Der Kiureghian Appointed President of AUA". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  2. "BIOGRAPHY Faculty | Civil and Environmental Engineering". www.ce.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  3. "Events | MAE Center". mae.cee.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  4. "Professor Armen Der Kiureghian". NAE Website. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  5. "ՀՀ գիտությունների ազգային ակադեմիա". www.sci.am. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  6. "NairaDK.com homepage". www.nairadk.com. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  7. khuch. "AUA President Armen Der Kiureghian's "Reflections in Watercolor" on Exhibit in Akian Gallery". AUA Newsroom. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
  8. "Armen Der Kiureghian - Taisei Professor of Civil Engineering, UC Berkeley". faculty.ce.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-15.
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