Dr. James Jirsa

Biography

James O. Jirsa has been a faculty member of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin since 1972, during which he served as department chairman from 1996. He holds the Janet S. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, a position he has maintained since 1988. Jirsa was also awarded the Phil M. Ferguson Professorship in 1984 and directed the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory from 1985 to 1988. Before moving to Austin, Jirsa taught at Rice University and the University of Nebraska. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering and completed his graduate degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His teaching and research specialties include the design, behavior, and durability of reinforced concrete structures, earthquake engineering, and the repair and strengthening of structures. A registered professional engineer, he became a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1988. Throughout his career, Jirsa has received numerous honors and awards, which began with being a Fulbright Scholar in France in 1963-64. He received the Hocott Award for Research from the College of Engineering in 1994 and the Joe W. Kelly Award in 1997 from the American Concrete Institute in recognition of his creative career as a teacher, researcher, and author. Currently, he serves as vice president of the American Concrete Institute and will assume the duties of president in 2000. He is also on the board of directors for the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and chairs the National Research Council's Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment.

Research Interests