Reggie DesRoches

Reginald DesRoches is Rice University’s Provost and serves as Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. As the University’s chief academic officer, Dr. DesRoches works closely with the president to advance the University’s teaching, research, and service mission. The Provost leads the strategic efforts to ensure that the academic and research programs are world-class, and aligned with the university’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity. He leads academic programs and initiatives across the University’s eight schools, which serve 7,500 students, and numerous centers and institutes.

Dr. DesRoches previously served as the William and Stephanie Sick Dean of Engineering at the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice University, where he provided leadership to a top-ranked engineering school with nine departments, 140 faculty, and 2,500 students. His research is highly interdisciplinary and spans micro- to macro-scales. He has published approximately 300 articles and delivered more than 100 presentations in over 30 different countries. A fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the society's Structural Engineering Institute, Dr. DesRoches served as the key technical leader in the United States’ response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, taking a team of 28 engineers, architects, city planners, and social scientists to study the impact of the earthquake.

Dr. DesRoches serves as Chair of the National Construction Safety Team Advisory Committee (NCST), chairs the advisory board for the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) Simulation Center, and is a member of the California Department of Transportation Scientific Advisory Board, and the Haliburton Labs Advisory Board. 

Dr. DesRoches received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2002 — the highest honor bestowed upon scientists and engineers in the early stages of their careers. Most recently, he was a recipient of the Distinguished Arnold Kerr Lecturer, John A. Blume Distinguished Lecturer, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Distinguished Lecturer, Georgia Tech Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor, and the Georgia Tech ANAK Awards. In 2020, DesRoches was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

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