Michael Pender has been Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Auckland since 1985.  From 1994 to 1998 he was Head of the Department of Civil and Resource Engineering, and in 1997 Acting Dean of the Engineering Faculty.  Mick Pender’s interest in geotechnical engineering was initiated during undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Canterbury 30 years ago.  His interests encompass mathematical modelling of the stress-strain-strength behaviour of soil and closely jointed rock masses, laboratory and field measurement of the geotechnical properties of NZ materials, the design of foundations and retaining structures, and the stability assessment of slopes.  He has had experience of the post earthquake reconnaissance for the Edgecumbe earthquake in 1987 and the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.  He has also acted as a consultant, or peer reviewer, during the design of a number of major projects in NZ.  For several years Mick Pender been researching methods for the design of foundations to withstand earthquake loads and limit state design methods in geotechnical engineering.