Introduction of John T. Christian, Thirty-Ninth Karl Terzaghi Lecturer, 2003, Nashville, Tenn.

Abstract

It is with great pride that I introduce the presenter of the Terzaghi Lecture for 2003, Dr. John T. Christian, with his paper entitled “Geotechnical Engineering Reliability: How Well Do We Know What We Are Doing?” Dr. Christian has had a long career as a geotechnical engineer. He served for a time on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and then worked for the consulting firm of Stone and Webster. He is currently a consulting engineer in Massachusetts, and has extensive experience in geotechnical engineering, soil dynamics, earthquake engineering, geotechnical reliability, computer applications, finiteelement analysis, and engineering management. Dr. Christian is the distinguished recipient of many honors and awards. In 1996 he received the Middlebrook Award for a paper in which he applied probabilistic methods to geotechnical engineering. In 1999 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his contributions and leadership in geotechnical earthquake engineering, computer methods in geotechnical engineering, and engineering education standards. Dr. Christian is also an honorary member of ASCE and the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section, ASCE, for his contributions to earthquake engineering, as a pioneer in the use of computer methods in geotechnical engineering and for his leadership in accreditation. Dr. Christian is the former chair of the ASCE Geotechnical Division