ASCE has honored Jonathan D. Bray, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, NAE, with the 2019 Karl Terzaghi Award for his effective leadership and contributions to the geotechnical engineering profession, and for following in the footsteps of Karl Terzaghi in expanding the state of the art of that profession.
Bray is an outstanding engineer, academic, and researcher by any definition of the term, who has made seminal contributions to earthquake and geotechnical engineering with substantial national and international impacts. His work on the seismic response and design of landfills, soil liquefaction, seismic slope stability, fault rupture effects on foundations and structures, and earthquake transient motion characterization for engineering is used in all countries with seismic hazards. He has markedly improved design and construction procedures for seismic safety.
He is also the consummate team player. His distinguished military and engineering careers are punctuated by leadership of many engineering, reconnaissance, and research teams. He has authored/co-authored 416 published books and technical papers (including 138 refereed journal papers). He was a member of over 50 editorial boards, technical advisory committees, and organizing committees for conferences and workshops. He has been principal or co-principal investigator on nearly 60 sponsored research projects, totaling tens of millions of dollars. He has given over 225 invited lectures worldwide and supervised 28 Ph.D. students, many of whom teach at outstanding universities and enjoy superb academic reputations.
Bray helped pioneer major innovations in earthquake reconnaissance, including GPS-oriented use of coordinated aerial, ground, and subsurface investigations of earthquake effects on soils and foundation performance, and has exercised leadership in organizing, coordinating, and participating in geotechnical reconnaissance not only of earthquakes, but of other natural hazards such as hurricanes.
The Karl Terzaghi Award is presented for outstanding contributions to knowledge in the fields of soil mechanics, subsurface and earthwork engineering, and subsurface and earthwork construction.
