Two members of EERI, David Friedman and Polat Gülkan, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) as part of the class of 2023, and will be formally inducted into the academy this coming October. NAE membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature" and to "the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."
David Friedman (M.EERI 1988), was honored for "for leadership in the development of innovative solutions for the seismic retrofit of historical structures." Friedman started his career with Forell | Elsesser in 1980 and rose to leadership as its CEO in 1998. David contributed to many of the firm’s notable projects, including the seismic retrofits of San Francisco City Hall, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Jewish Community Center, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the new Berkeley Art Museum, and the Taube-Koret Campus for Jewish Life. He led the decade-long seismic renovation of UC Berkeley’s California Memorial Stadium, which presented unprecedented engineering challenges. In 2007, he stepped aside from his CEO role to focus more of his time and energy on his life-long passion for supporting not-for-profit professional and community organizations, while remaining engaged with the firm as Senior Principal and Chair of the Board. In more recent years, David has divided his time between his role with the firm and his leadership roles on the the boards of many community organizations, including SPUR and Geohazards International.
Friedman was EERI President from 2017-2018, and currently serves as chair of the Fundraising Committee. He and his family also endowed the Friedman Family Visiting Professionals Program, which brings EERI members who are practicing engineers to visit EERI student chapters on university campuses each year in order to foster better understanding and communication between and among earthquake practitioners and academics.
Hakkı Polat Gülkan (M.EERI 1993) was honored as an international member "for improving earthquake safety of buildings and seismic resilience worldwide." Gülkan is currently a Professor of Earthquake Structural Engineering at Başkent University in Ankara. He was previously director of the Earthquake Engineering Research Center at the Department of Civil Engineering of Middle East Technical University and a professor of Civil Engineering at Cankaya University in Ankara, as well as a visiting research scholar at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center of University of California, Berkeley and a visiting professor at Purdue University. He served on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) from 1996-2004, as executive vice president from 2004-2008, and as president from 2010-2014. His research and professional work has focused on earthquake hazards, including the earthquake hazard zones map for Turkey that first went into effect in 1966, and he has published hundreds of academic papers. He was awarded the NATO Science Prize in 2004 and the Science Award of the Scientific and Technological Research Authority (TÜBITAK) in 2007. A graduate of Middle Eastern Technical University, he recieved his masters and doctoral degrees in structural engineering from the University of Illinois in 1971.
An Honorary Member of EERI, Gülkan is a former editor of Earthquake Spectra and served on EERI’s Board of Directors from 2005-2008.
