Nicholas Ambraseys
| Nicholas N. Ambraseys | |
|---|---|
| Born | 19 January 1929 Athens, Greece |
| Died | December 28, 2012 (aged 83) England |
| Residence | London |
| Citizenship | British, Greek |
| Nationality | Greek |
| Fields |
Engineering Seismology Soil Mechanics |
| Institutions | Imperial College London |
| Alma mater |
Imperial College London National Technical University of Athens |
| Thesis | The seismic stability of earth dams (1958) |
| Doctoral advisor |
Alec Skempton Alan W. Bishop |
| Doctoral students |
Sarada K. Sarma Dimitri Papastamatiou Julian J. Bommer John Douglas |
| Known for | Historical Seismicity, Calculation of seismic displacements of dams |
| Influences | Alan W. Bishop |
| Influenced | Sarada K. Sarma, Harry Bolton Seed, Nathan M. Newmark |
| Notable awards | 44th Rankine Lecture (2004) Legend of Earthquake Engineering |
Nicholas Neocles Ambraseys FICE FREng (Greek: Νικόλαος Αμβράζης του Νεοκλή, 19 January 1929 – 28 December 2012) was a Greek engineering seismologist. He was emeritus professor of Engineering Seismology and Senior Research Fellow at Imperial College London. For many years Ambraseys was considered as the leading figure and absolute authority in earthquake engineering and seismology in Europe.
Ambraseys studied Rural and Surveying Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (Diploma in 1952) and then Civil Engineering at Imperial College specialising in Soil Mechanics and Engineering Seismology. He worked with Professors Alec Skempton and Alan W. Bishop and obtained his PhD degree in 1958; his thesis title was "The seismic stability of earth dams". He joined the staff in 1958 as a Lecturer and he was appointed a Reader in Engineering Seismology in 1968 and full Professor of Engineering Seismology in 1974.
In 1968 he established the Engineering Seismology Section (ESEE) (now part of the Geotechnics Section) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Imperial College and served as its first Head from 1971 to 1994, until he retired and was reappointed as Senior Research Investigator. He founded and became the first chairman of the British National Committee of Earthquake Engineering.
His major research focused on engineering seismology and geotechnical earthquake engineering. He specialised in earthquake hazard assessment, the earthquake resistant design of geotechnical structures (dams and foundations) and strong-motion seismology; on which he published widely (more than 300 publications, of which several papers appeared in highly cited journals), provided consulting services and edited work of other colleagues in numerous journals. He was co-founder of the Journal of Earthquake Engineering and one of the early creators of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering. He is among the most widely cited authors in the diverse fields of civil engineering and earthquake engineering, and one of the most cited authors in the field of engineering seismology to which he is considered by many to be the founding father.
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