Ian Buckle to Return to His New Zealand Alma Mater As Deputy Vice Chancellor

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- After serving for eight years as deputy director of the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research at the University at Buffalo, Ian G. Buckle, Ph.D., a man who has made a career out of studying such down-to-earth problems as how to keep bridges standing during earthquakes, has decided to take a broader approach to research.

Buckle, who has served as UB professor of civil engineering since 1989, has accepted the position of deputy vice chancellor for research at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

A native of New Zealand, Buckle received his bachelor's degree in engineering and his doctorate in civil engineering from the University of Auckland in the 1960's. For 14 years, he taught in the university's civil engineering department.

"UB is losing a great faculty member and the center is losing a great deputy director," said George C. Lee, Ph.D., director of NCEER, "but it's a terrific opportunity for Dr. Buckle. This is a new beginning for him."

Buckle is one of the world's leading experts in seismic-isolation technology and an authority on the seismic performance of highway bridges. However, a senior administrative post in academia has long been one of his goals.

He noted that one factor that attracted him to NCEER was the chance to learn more about academic administration by working alongside the late Robert Ketter, the former UB president, educator and administrator, who was the center's first director.

"Being at NCEER has provided me with a tremendous opportunity to improve my administrative skills by working with UB's president, vice presidents and other senior administrators, and in interacting at a senior level with leaders at other large, prestigious institutions in the center's research consortium," he said.

Lee noted that both Buckle's administrative and research contributions to NCEER will be missed and he said he was pleased that Buckle will continue to work on NCEER's Federal Highway Administration grant.

Since 1992, Buckle has performed in a leadership role on the $14.2 million highway projects, which support studies on the vulnerability of federal-aid highways, bridges and tunnels to earthquakes and which provide for the development of new technologies and design requirements.

Buckle expressed pride in looking back on his tenure at NCEER.

"NCEER has been a pioneer as a university-based center conducting problem-focused research," he said. "One of its major contributions has been to improve the seismic performance of lifelines. Before the center existed, very little work was done on lifelines; now it's a major area of activity for earthquake engineers."

Lifelines are the network of systems that disperse energy and water and provide transportation and other critical services throughout population centers.

According to Buckle, NCEER also has made major, technical innovations in protective systems for structures. He said that it is through these developments that the center has strengthened its collaborations with industrial partners such as IBM Corp. , 3M Corp. Enidine Corp. and Taylor Devices, among others.

"The center also has established a very strong constituency in the earthquake community and has proven itself a model for conducting multidisciplinary research," he said. "We are one of the few centers that has bridged the gap between engineers and social scientists. We have successfully used teams of researchers involving seismologists, engineers, economists and social scientists to determine the economic and social impacts of earthquakes."

That multidisciplinary approach will serve Buckle well in his new position at Auckland, which is known for strong research programs in engineering and medicine.

In addition to his administrative post, Buckle has been appointed professor of civil engineering at the University of Auckland.

For Buckle, an added attraction of returning to his native New Zealand is the proximity to his extended family; save for his immediate family, all of his relatives live in New Zealand.

Since 1984, he has lived and worked in the U.S., first as director of research and development at Computech Engineering Services and then as vice president of engineering for Dynamic Isolation Systems, both in Berkeley, Calif. He began working at NCEER in 1989.