Book Description

This is the twenty-ninth volume in the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's series, Connections: The EERI Oral History Series. EERI began this series to preserve the recollections of some of those who have had pioneering careers in the field of earthquake engineering. Significant, even revolutionary, changes have occurred in earthquake engineering since individuals first began thinking in modern, scientific ways about how to protect construction and society from earthquakes. The Connections series helps document this important history. This volume in the EERI Oral History Series presents the life and career of Anil K. Chopra, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. After he graduated from college in India, he went to UC Berkeley to earn his Master's and PhD degrees, then taught at the University of Minnesota before returning to join the faculty of UC Berkeley for the next 47 years, retiring in 2016. The first class he was asked to teach at UC Berkeley was structural dynamics, a course which had been started by his mentors, Ray Clough and Joe Penzien. His work in that field resulted in a number of publications on a wide range of topics in earthquake engineering and structural dynamics. Chopra chaired the structural analysis committee of the project producing the influential ATC-3, Tentative Provisions for the Development of Seismic Regulations for Buildings, and he tells interesting stories about working with Nate Newmark, Emilio Rosenblueth, Henry Degenkolb, and others. His expertise in structural dynamics resulted in his being asked to write the EERI monograph on structural dynamics, Dynamics of Structures: A Primer, and later led to his very widely used university textbook, Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Application to Earthquake Engineering, now in its fifth edition. A major theme in Chopra's research is the seismic analysis and design of concrete dams. He and a number of PhD students developed procedures for earthquake analysis of concrete dams, and he has consulted on dozens of major projects around the world. In 2020 he published his comprehensive book on the subject, Earthquake Engineering for Concrete Dams: Analysis, Design, and Evaluation.