Robert V. Whitman is the winner of EERI's 2010 George W. Housner Medal

For more than thirty years, Bob Whitman’s teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his leadership in the earthquake engineering field contributed to improved seismic building codes, better understanding of complex soil behavior during earthquakes, and analytical and design methods used worldwide. His technical and policy con-tributions lie at the foundation of much that is now the state of knowledge and state of practice in risk assessment and mitigation.

He was responsible for seminal research pertaining to soil dynamics and geotechnical earthquake engineering. The field of soil dynamics was just getting into high gear early in his career, when the study of liquefaction and earthquake-induced ground failures burst onto the scene following the 1964 Alaska and Niigata earthquakes. The 1969 book he co-authored with T. William Lambe, Soil Mechanics, has become a classic. Bob was one of the first engineers to apply probabilistic concepts to geotechnical problems, concentrating on seismic performance and lifeline earthquake engineering.

He served as chair of the ANSI Subcommittee A58 on Seismic Loads (1978-85), the NSF Advisory Subcommittee for the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (1980-82), and the HAZUS Project of the Earthquake Committee of the National Institute of Building Sciences (1993-2000). As chair of the HAZUS Project, Bob played a major role in developing the US National Loss Estimation Methodology that was implemented for earthquakes in the HAZUS softwareused by hundreds of US communities to enhance seismic safety. Bob Whitman was editor of the very important NRC publication Liquefaction of Soils During Earthquakes (1985), and a member of numerous committees focused on seismic safety.   

During his term as president of EERI (1985-86), he led the earthquake engineering profession in the implementation of research findings in design and construction. Bob was concerned about converting research into practice, and used his presidency to encourage the development of seismic provisions for building codes and to engage the Federal Emergency Management Agency in developing and promulgating those provisions. Bob was well qualified to guide the profession in this way, because he had served on the OSTP Advisory Group in Earthquake Hazards Reduction (1977-78) that led to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, the backbone for seismic protection in the US.

In summary, Bob’s scholarship and public service in seismic safety changed the landscape in US earthquake engineering. He received the ASCE C. Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award (1992), the EERI Distinguished Lectureship (1994), and EERI Honorary Membership (1997). He is the subject of the latest volume in the EERI Oral History Series, which was recently mailed to all EERI members.