Risk and Reliability Symposium Held in Honor of Armen Der Kiureghian

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On October 4-5, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign hosted a Risk and Reliability Symposium in honor of AUA President Dr. Armen Der Kiureghian, who is considered one of the fathers of the field of risk and reliability analysis in civil engineering. Last July, he retired from his position as Taisei Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of California Berkeley, which he held since 1999, in order to assume the position of president of AUA. In total, he served 37 years as a faculty member at UC Berkeley.

The symposium brought together some of the most prominent scholars in the field, former students of Dr. Der Kiureghian’s who now hold leading positions in top universities around the world including Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Melon, University of British Columbia, Seoul National University, ETH Zurich, and Technical University of Munich. The program consisted of more than 30 presentations, some technical and others anecdotal in nature, with Dr. Der Kiureghian’s former students and colleagues fondly recalling memories and talking about the lessons they had learned from him.  Der Kiureghian’s own advisor from his time as a PhD student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Alfredo H-S. Ang, also shared some anecdotes, describing him as a “very fast learner.”

“Tough, but kind” was a common way for Dr. Der Kiureghian’s former students to describe him. “He is demanding, but also very generous,” said Charles Menun, President of Menun Risk Consulting Services, recounting the time when Dr. Der Kiureghian was on the panel for his PhD defense. He asked questions that were very difficult, but which he knew Charles would know the answers to. “I don’t know how he does it,” joked Dr. Khalid Mosalem, the new holder of the Taisei Chair in Civil Engineering at UC Berkeley. “He makes bright students work very hard and still be fond of him.”

“Being his student has been a great honor and pleasure,” said Katerina Konakli, now a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich. “I wholeheartedly thank him for all the knowledge and insight he helped me gain, his encouragement in my growth as an independent thinker, the academic values he transmitted to me, his generous support in the pursuit of my every academic and professional goal. He will always be for me an inspirational role model.”

Paolo Gardoni, a former student of Dr. Der Kiureghian’s who is now a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, organized the symposium. “Professor Der Kiureghian exceled as an outstanding advisor, mentor, and role model,” he said in his opening remarks. “He shared with me his world-leading knowledge and expertise in the field of risk and reliability… He has been an invaluable example of ethical conduct, which is especially important in the sometimes challenging world of collaborative research. Equally important, he provided emotional support and encouragement.  In particular, he and his family provided me with the warmth, kindness and hospitality of a family, when I was an international student with family in Europe.”

“Mentor” and “family” were echoed through almost every presentation, with many former students expressing their gratitude to Dr. Der Kiureghian, his wife Nelly, and their children, Naira and Sebouh, for graciously welcoming them into their home. “He was my first mentor and my second family,” said one former student, Philippe Geyskens. “I was welcomed by Nelly and Armen as part of their family.” Nelly and Naira were in attendance and indeed, while the focus of the symposium was primarily academic, it also had the air of a big family reunion.

As one of the founders of AUA, over the years, Dr. Der Kiureghian has always tried to find opportunities for his students and colleagues to visit AUA to attend conferences, conduct research, and in some cases, to teach.  In June 2012, he held an international conference at AUA that brought 15 of his former students to Armenia among more than fifty participants. Several symposium participants shared memories of times spent together in Armenia, including Mayssa Dabaghi, one of Dr. Der Kiureghian’s more recent graduates, now Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the American University of Beirut. She shared several photos from the summer of 2011, which she and another doctoral student spent in Armenia with Dr. Der Kiureghian, conducting research and exploring the country.

Philippe Geyskens spent a semester at AUA, teaching courses in statics and probability. He remembers this time very fondly, recalling that the students were so motivated to learn that by the end of class, he would be exhausted. At the time, the country and the university were still in their infancy. “When I came back to the US, it took me a long time to start taking things for granted again,” says Geyskens, adding that he hopes to visit Armenia again soon.

At the close of the symposium, after thanking his colleagues for bestowing him with this honor and his family for their support throughout the years, Dr. Der Kiureghian gave a presentation about the American University of Armenia, highlighting the unique circumstances that led to the founding of the university, the successes of its alumni, and its state-of-the-art facilities. He encouraged his colleagues to visit AUA and to consider it as a place to take a sabbatical and teach.

Dr. Armen Der Kiureghian at the banquet, speaking about the American University of Armenia
With former students and postdoctoral candidates

With (from left to right) Professor Colleen Murphy, Professor Paolo Gardoni (symposium organizer), Mrs. Mae Ang, Mrs. Nelly Der Kiureghian, Professor Alfredo H-S. Ang, and Ms. Irene Ang
With the “ADK Support Team” who helped organize the symposium

With Professor Paolo Gardoni and Professor Benito Marinas