EERI is delighted to announce that Yumei Wang (M.EERI 1989) has been named the 2026 EERI Distinguished Lecturer in recognition of her impact in advancing seismic resiliency. The annual Distinguished Lecture Award of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute is awarded to members of the Institute to recognize and encourage communication of outstanding professional contributions of major importance for earthquake hazard mitigation.
Yumei Wang is a leader in earthquake and tsunami resilience in the Pacific Northwest. Her sustained public policy, public outreach, and engineering efforts have led to solutions that prepare hospitals, schools, and energy infrastructure for earthquakes. A licensed engineering geologist and engineer, Wang specializes in forming new policies and programs on Cascadia earthquakes, tsunamis and extreme weather. She is currently a Senior Advisor on Infrastructure Resilience and Risk in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Portland State University.
Throughout her career, Wang has forged a transformation in seismic resilience in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest by working with scientists, engineers, elected officials, policy makers, industry representatives, and community members. Her career at the nexus of advocacy, policy, and engineering, is exemplified by her efforts in Oregon's fuel infrastructure. She led a multi-year investigation into the earthquake liquefaction risk at Oregon's Critical Energy Infrastructure, culminating in a key report in 2013. This report initiated sustained efforts that led to Oregon Senate Bill 1567 and the establishment of Oregon's Fuel Tank Seismic Stability program in 2022.
Her technical achievements include contributions to the 2022 National Academies report on liquefaction assessment, as well as multiple publications that characterize risk and provide resilience guidance for schools, hospitals, and other lifelines. This technical work has been amplified in impact by her policy contributions, including as chair of the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Committee, as a contributor to the 2013 Oregon Resilience Plan, and as a champion for the the 2009 creation of the Oregon Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program, the first of its kind in the United States. Her public outreach, including op-ed pieces, television and documentary appearances, and presentations, has made earthquake preparedness a regular conversation topic in Oregon.
Wang was a founding member of the NEHRP Advisory Committee and NIBS Lifeline Advisory Panel. A longtime EERI member, she has chaired the EERI Honors committee and School Earthquake Safety Initiative and co-led post-earthquake reconnaissance teams following the 2011 Tohoku and 2010 Maule earthquakes. In 2021, she was awarded EERI’s Alquist Medal. She is also the recipient of the 2018 ASCE Le Val Lund Practice Award for Lifeline Risk Reduction and the 2022 Public Service Award from the Geological Society of America.
