Ricardo Dobry studied at the University of Chile, National University of Mexico, and MIT. Since 1977 he has been a member of the faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where he currently serves as Director of the Center for Earthquake Engineering Research that includes one of the state-of-the-art NEES geotechnical centrifuges. His research interests include soil dynamics, geotechnical earthquake engineering, and geotechnical dynamic centrifuge testing. Dr. Dobry has written more than 200 technical papers and research reports and has directed 40 PhD and MS theses. He has also served as consultant for a number of civil engineering projects including the design of the new Rion-Antirion Bridge in Greece, which was named the 2005 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement by ASCE. Dr. Dobry was elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering in 2004.