Masanobu Shinozuka (December 23, 1930 – November 5, 2018) was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

applied mechanics Applied mechanics is the branch of science concerned with the motion of any substance that can be experienced or perceived by humans without the help of instruments. In short, when mechanics concepts surpass being theoretical and are applied and e ...

expert in earthquake and

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...

. Shinozuka's research focuses on field theory and risk assessment methodology in civil engineering. His works have been applied numerously in earthquake engineering in buildings, bridges, lifeline and environmental systems.

Early life and career

Masanobu Shinozuka was born in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan on December 23, 1930. He earned his B.S. in civil engineering in 1953 and M.S. in 1955 from Kyoto University. Shinozuka later came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in civil engineering under the supervision of Alfred Freudenthal from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. From 1958 to 1988, Shinozuka taught in the

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

department of

. Later, he joined the faculty of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

until 1995, and then became professor of civil engineering and Fred Champion Chair of Civil Engineering at the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

. At USC, he also served as director of the International Institute of Innovative Risk Reduction Research on Civil Infrastructure Systems. From 2001 to 2013, he was a Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

. He was awarded the title of Distinguished Professor by the university's Henry Samueli School of Engineering and the Academic Senate. He returned to Columbia as Professor of Civil Engineering in 2013 and died on November 5, 2018.

Honors

Masanobu Shinozuka was the recipient of numerous honors and awards. In 2004, he was awarded the Egleston Award for Distinguished Engineering Achievement. In 1994, he received the prestigious

Theodore von Karman Medal The Theodore von Karman Medal in Engineering Mechanics is awarded annually to an individual in recognition of his distinguished achievement in engineering mechanics, applicable to any branch of civil engineering. This award was established and endo ...

from the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. In 1978, Shinozuka was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

. He was also a fellow in the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, an elected foreign member of the

Russian Academy of Natural Sciences The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences ( Russian: Российская академия естественных наук) is a Russian non-governmental organization founded on August 31 1990 in Moscow in the former Soviet Union, following a de ...

and an honorary member of the American Society of Civil Engineering.

References

External links

*
National Academy of Engineering Official SiteNational Academies Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinozuka, Masanobu Kyoto University alumni Columbia University people Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science faculty Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni University of California, Irvine alumni Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 1930 births 2018 deaths People from Tokyo Japanese emigrants to the United States