Professor Boulanger received his bachelor's degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada, in 1986 and his doctoral degree from the University of California at Berkeley, USA, in 1990. He worked in consulting from 1990-92 before joining the faculty at the University of California at Davis in 1992.
Professor Boulanger's research interests are mainly in geotechnical earthquake engineering, with emphases on liquefaction and its remediation, seismic soil-pile-structure interaction, and seismic response of earth structures.
His honors and awards include the Norman Medal, the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, and the Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Shamsher Prakash Research Award.
He is currently Chair of ASCE's Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics Committee, a member of the Research Committee for the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, a core member of the ISSMGE TC4, a member of the Consulting Board for Earthquake Analysis for the California Division of Safety of Dams, and a Technical Specialist to the US Army Corps of Engineers on dam safety and seismic remediation projects.