Armen Der Kiureghian

Armen Der Kiureghian
Born (1947-10-04) October 4, 1947 (age 77)
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
SpouseNelly Ouzounian (m. 1983)
ChildrenNaira, Sebouh
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of California
AUA president (2014)
WebsiteOfficial page

Armen Der Kiureghian (Armenian: Արմէն Տէր-Կիւրեղեան, October 4, 1947), is an Iranian-born Armenian-American academic, one of the founders of the American University of Armenia, where he served as the president from 2014[1] to 2019.[2]

He is the professor of civil engineering at the University of California.

Der Kiureghian was elected a member of the US National Academy of Engineering in 2011 for contributions to risk and reliability and earthquake engineering to advance the practice of civil and structural engineering. He is also a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia.

Biography

Der Kiureghian was born in Isfahan in the family of a prominent Armenian painter Sumbat Der Kiureghian. He received his BS and MS in civil engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran, and his PhD 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 an 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.[3]

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 concurrently as the founding dean of the College of Engineering (1991–2007) and as interim provost (2011–2012) of AUA 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 a founding member of the board of trustees of AUA. He served as interim university president since President Bruce Boghosian's departure in July 2014. In January, Der Kiureghian has accepted the position of president of AUA.[1] In May 2019, he passed the baton to Dr. Karin Markides.[2]

Armen Der Kiureghian's teaching and research interests are in the areas of structural reliability, risk analysis,[4] random vibrations and earthquake engineering. He has pioneered methods for the safety and reliability assessment of complex structures and for stochastic seismic analysis of buildings, bridges, and critical equipment. He has over 300 publications, including 110 in archival journals and book chapters.

Der Kiureghian at AUA

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

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[7] 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.[8][9]

Books

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

References

  1. ^ a b Contributor, Guest (February 16, 2015). "Der Kiureghian Appointed President of AUA". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved August 15, 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ a b Contributor, Guest (May 6, 2019). "Dr. Karin Markides Appointed AUA President as Dr. Armen Der Kiureghian Passes on the Baton". AUA Newsroom. Retrieved January 13, 2021. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  3. ^ "BIOGRAPHY Faculty | Civil and Environmental Engineering". www.ce.berkeley.edu. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  4. ^ "Events | MAE Center". mae.cee.illinois.edu. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  5. ^ "Professor Armen Der Kiureghian". NAE Website. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  6. ^ "ՀՀ գիտությունների ազգային ակադեմիա". www.sci.am. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  7. ^ "NairaDK.com homepage". www.nairadk.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  8. ^ khuch (June 17, 2015). "AUA President Armen Der Kiureghian's "Reflections in Watercolor" on Exhibit in Akian Gallery". AUA Newsroom. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  9. ^ "Armen Der Kiureghian – Taisei Professor of Civil Engineering, UC Berkeley". faculty.ce.berkeley.edu. Retrieved August 15, 2019.