RENO --  University of Nevada, Reno civil engineering Professor Ian Buckle has received the endorsement of the members of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) to be their next president. After his current service as president-elect, which began in February 2012, Buckle will serve as president for two years.

Buckle is an internationally recognized and respected leader in earthquake and structural engineering and research in seismic performance of bridges and lifelines as well as earthquake protective systems for structures. The Institute is a national, nonprofit, technical society of engineers, geoscientists, architects, planners, public officials, and social scientists dedicated to reducing the consequences of earthquakes in seismically-active communities.

“Being selected for the position of president-elect of EERI is an achievement that clearly demonstrates the significance of Ian’s many contributions to the profession as well as the international excellence of our earthquake engineering program,” Manos Maragakis, dean of the College of Engineering said. “It is affirming to our mission of national and international prominence when we see our faculty being elected in leadership positions of international societies such as this. It speaks volumes about the impact of their work to the profession and the reputation of our programs.”

At the University of Nevada, Reno, Buckle is a Foundation Professor of civil and environmental engineering and serves as director of the Center for Civil Engineering Earthquake Research and director of the University’s world-renowned Large-Scale Structures Laboratory, one of 14 equipment sites in the NSF-funded Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation.

In a highly-competitive grant process in 2010, Buckle acquired a $12 million grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to expand the Large-Scale Structures Laboratory. He is currently overseeing this 23,000-square-foot, $18.7 million expansion, which more than doubles the size of the lab. When completed in fall 2013, the expanded facility will house the largest and most versatile earthquake simulation laboratory in the United States.

Buckle has conducted extensive earthquake engineering research in Japan and, among many other research projects, is collaborating on a major project with the Center for Urban Earthquake Engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

EERI, headquartered in Oakland, Calif., is one of the largest multi-disciplinary earthquake engineering societies in the world. Its flagship publication is Earthquake Spectra, a journal published to improve the practice of earthquake hazards mitigation, preparedness, and recovery.

Learn more about EERI at http://www.eeri.org/. Learn more about Buckle and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno at http://www.unr.edu/cee/.