Introduction to the 59th Rankine lecturer, Professor George Gazetas

George Gazetas was born and raised in Greece, going through the state school system in the towns of Trikala and Karditsa (in central Greece), Xanthi (northern Greece) and Pyrgos (southern Greece), with the family following the transfers of his father’s governmental agricultural–justice profession. At a young pre-school age he lived through the destructive 7·2 magnitude Farsala earthquake, 30 km away, which apparently left a lasting impression on him. In 1968 he entered the National Technical University of Athens (known in Greece as ‘Metsovion’ and considered the best university in the country). He graduated in 1973, after 5 years of study in civil engineering, finishing first in his very competitive class of about 200. He considers himself fortunate to have had as his teacher of reinforced concrete-related subjects and as his diploma thesis advisor Theodosios Tassios, a charismatic professor who introduced him not only to the fundamental mechanics of reinforced concrete, but also to simple physics-based thinking and modelling to solve complex engineering problems – something that characterised his later research and professional practice. Upon graduation he accepted the offer of a research assistantship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His studies there in the Division of Geotechnical Engineering culminated with a master’s degree in January 1975 and a doctorate (PhD) in August 1976. He was advised by Professors Jose M. Roesset, a pioneer in wave propagation and dynamic soil–foundation interaction, and Eric Vanmarcke on earthquake random (probabilistic) vibrations of multi-degrees-of-freedom systems. His subsequent career, however, focused on foundations and foundation dynamics rather than probabilistic modelling.After 2 years back in Greece, where he had the opportunity to work for over a year with his undergraduate mentor, Professor Tassios, on drafting a model guide for a Greek seismic code, he returned to the USA as an assistant and later an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, respectively. These were among his most productive years, expanding his topics of interest from foundation vibrations to seismic analysis of earth dams, pile foundations and static foundation problems. Soil anisotropy, ground inhomogeneity and the development of analytical as well as rigorously simple methods of solution were the key characteristics of his research.At the age of 32 George was elected as the Professor of Soil Mechanics in the Civil Engineering Department of his alma mater (‘Metsovion’), where he served until his (compulsory) retirement in 2018. One of his first accomplishments was to attract four brilliant young colleagues to join his geotechnical group, which subsequently achieved prominence in the country and worldwide. He and his colleagues placed much emphasis on quality teaching, in addition to research, and achieved a measure of fame by way of the annual class field trips to Kobe, Japan, and to Europe. Their graduates are currently professors in top universities in the UK (Oxford, Imperial, Bristol, Southampton) and the USA (Caltech, UC Davis, UC Berkeley), as well as leaders in civil engineering industry. In between, George also served (in parallel) as Professor of Civil Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA, which had just established the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research.George’s early research focused on the dynamic response of shallow and deep foundations. He produced some seminal papers in the 1980s, which greatly facilitated the practical application of foundation dynamics by practitioners. A series of papers in the late 1970s and early 1980s presented soundly based but readily useable solutions for the stiffness and damping of shallow foundations, a summary of which was provided in an extensive state-of-the-art paper in the International Journal of Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering published in 1983.His attention then turned to embedded and deep foundations, including pile groups, with a series of important papers in the 1980s on these topics. Of particular importance to practical foundation designers was his paper in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 1991, entitled ‘Formulae and charts for impedance functions of surface and embedded foundations’. Of equal importance is his chapter on ‘Foundation vibrations’, published in the second edition of the Foundation engineering handbook edited by H. S. Fang. There, his simplified solutions for dynamic interaction between piles in a group have facilitated practical analysis of this quite complex problem.During the 1980s, George began his studies of seismic response of foundations and earth structures, including dams. This aspect of his work continues to the present time.In recent years, George has shifted his research towards combined numerical and experimental work to face some unresolved questions. The establishment in his laboratory at Metsovion of the shaking table and fault-rupture box facilities, and the cooperation with major centrifuge facilities in Europe, the USA and Japan, to obtain much needed experimental data, are two types of efforts in this direction. His efforts in the past 10–15 years have been on the design and analysis of rocking foundations as a way of improving the seismic performance of structures while reversing the established ‘capacity design’ method. Mobilising bearing capacity failure mechanisms (contrary to static provisions), and disregarding limitations on the foundation uplift, have been found to lead to superior solutions, at a (usually insignificant) cost of residual deformation.During the last 20 years, inspired by the Kocaeli and the Düzce–Bolu earthquakes in Turkey in August and November of 1999, as well as the Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan in September of 1999, George has explored the possibility of developing a structure to survive on top of a major fault rupture emerging underneath. He and his team have explored numerous aspects of the problem, including back-analyses of actual successes and failures from the above-mentioned earthquakes, and they have published a number of papers providing guidelines for defending against seismic fault rupture.George has been prolific in the publication of technical papers and books. He has published over 500 technical papers, edited eight volumes of conference and workshop proceedings, and written four books. These books have been written in Greek, and we look forward to seeing translated or updated versions of these books in English.With the advent of several major earthquakes, George Gazetas has been called upon to participate in post-earthquake studies and reconnaissance missions in many parts of the world.In addition to these earthquake-related missions, George has been a consultant on many other projects worldwide, including the Messochora Dam in Greece, the Brunsbüttel nuclear power plant in Germany, the Maliakos immersed tunnel in Greece, the Williamsburg Bridge in New York, USA, the Tagus Bridge in Lisbon, Portugal, the Hartlepool nuclear power station in the UK, the New Quito international airport control tower in Quito Ecuador, and the Rion-Antirion Bridge in Greece.George has received many awards for his work, too many to list fully, but among these awards are:Outside his research and consulting activities, George has been very active in organising or co-organising conferences and in contributing to the writing of codes, including chapter 8 of the Eurocode EN1998-5, the Greek aseismic code and recommended provisions for seismic regulations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the USA.In addition to his technical activities, George has a number of other interests. He was a passionate football (soccer) player and follower, and he is an avid reader who enjoys music.Over his career, George has pursued, with enthusiasm and passion, his efforts to solve complex engineering problems using soundly based methods. This evening, I am sure that we shall be treated to an animated and challenging lecture that will amply demonstrate these qualities of enthusiasm and passion. I am delighted to invite Professor George Gazetas to deliver his lecture, entitled ‘Benefits of unconventional seismic foundation design’.