Medhat Haroun (Arabic: مدحت هارون, November 30, 1951 – October 18, 2012) was an Egyptian-American expert on earthquake engineering. He wrote more than 300 technical papers and received the Charles Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award (2006) and the Walter Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize (1992) from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Birth and education Medhat Ahmed Haroun was born on November 30, 1951, in Cairo, Egypt. His father, Ahmed, was a surgeon and his mother, Sadia, the chair of the pharmacology department at Ain Shams University in Cairo. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Cairo University before moving to the United States to complete his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, working with his advisor George Housner, an eminent authority on earthquake engineering and National Medal of Science laureate.
Academic career After graduating as valedictorian of his Civil Engineering class at Cairo University in 1973, he worked as a full-time instructor in the Structural Engineering Division at Cairo University for two years, before moving to the United States to complete his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at the California Institute of Technology. He obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Structural and Earthquake Engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1976 and 1979, respectively. He focused on the seismic response of fluid-structure systems. He continued as a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the California Institute of Technology until 1981, where he then joined the University of California, Irvine (UCI) as a Professor. He taught at the University of California, Irvine, for nearly twenty years and served as two-term Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). He was instrumental in the growth and development of the CEE program at UCI. He was Chair when the Engineering Gateway Building was constructed, was key in creating the Structural Engineering Test Hall, and led the CEE Affiliates support on the development of the Shake Table in the Structures Lab Facility. His work, research, and mentorship made a pronounced impact on the civil engineering industry and the University of California, Irvine. During his tenure, the "Friends of Civil Engineering" affiliates group at the University of California, Irvine was developed with industry leaders, and later renamed the "Civil and Environmental Engineering Affiliates". The group represents a critical link between the university and the local engineering community, by providing guidance on curricula, delivering professional aspects of the CEE program, providing employment opportunities for students and engaging the community with regularly scheduled symposia. In 1999, he moved back to Egypt, where he assumed the position of AGIP Professor in the Department of Construction Engineering (Structures) and Chair of the Department of Engineering at The American University in Cairo (AUC). In 2005, he became the Dean of the School of Sciences and Engineering (SSE) at the AUC, where he embarked on an ambitious strategic plan to transform SSE into a world-class school. He oversaw an unprecedented expansion of the academic undergraduate and graduate programs, establishment of the first ever Ph.D. Program at AUC in Applied Sciences and Engineering, a substantial increase in extramural research funding for cutting-edge research, and enhancement of university-industry relations. He later became Provost of the American University in Cairo in January 2011, assuming the role of the university's chief academic officer. With his announcement as Provost, he became the first Provost of Egyptian descent in AUC History. As provost, he launched a new strategic academic plan for the university and signed a number of agreements with many national and international entities, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with "Ma'an" NGO to help transform slums into sustainable communities and an MOU with the League of Arab States to support the development of teachers' capacity across the Middle East. During his tenure, the School of Continuing Education signed an MOU with the Egyptian E-Learning University to enhance its programs of distance learning, and the Center of Translation Studies signed an agreement with the Ministry of Culture to provide support for its activities. In 2011–2012, AUC's academic area experienced its largest ever faculty recruiting season, recruiting top faculty in various disciplines. He continued on as Provost of The American University in Cairo until his death on October 18, 2012, of pancreatic cancer. In October 2013, The American University in Cairo dedicated the Medhat Haroun Atrium, with key architectural features and an inscribed plaque that reads "In memory of a pioneering engineer, beloved teacher, imaginative administrator, loyal colleague and faithful friend", at the entrance to the School of Sciences and Engineering. The American University in Cairo is also establishing a scholarship fund in his memory. In 2014, the Medhat Haroun Engineering Fellowship was established at the University of California, Irvine, to provide annual support to Ph.D. students in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Research His research efforts were concerned with the theoretical and experimental modeling of the behavior of structural systems under seismic loading, and are published in more than 300 technical papers. His primary areas of research were regarding dynamic analysis of ground-based, elevated, buried and submerged tanks; seismic response and retrofit of bridge structures including pier walls, pinned columns, and columns jacketed with advanced composite materials; active and passive control of the dynamic response of buildings; soil-structure interaction, and earthquake response of both as-built and retrofitted tilt-up concrete walls, infilled reinforced concrete frames, masonry walls, and composite walls.
Awards and honours
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