Anil K.
Chopra, expert structural engineering professor profiled in the
latest EERI Connections Volume
 The
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) is excited to release
the 29th volume of Connections: The EERI Oral History Series,
featuring Anil K. Chopra (M.EERI,1973),
an expert structural engineering professor well known for his
preeminent textbook Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Application
to Earthquake Engineering, and his expertise in the seismic
analysis and design of concrete dams.
The EERI Oral History
featuring Anil K. Chopra
is available free of charge in PDF format. This ongoing series
publishes interviews with prominent figures in the fields associated
with earthquake engineering and earthquake resilience to preserve the
rich history of those who have shaped seismic design theory and
practice.
Why should you read this Oral History?
As stated by Gregory Fenves (President of Emory University and graduate
student to Chopra from 1980-1984) in his personal introduction, by
reading this volume “you will encounter Anil’s graciousness, his
clarity of thought, his dedication to students, and his reflections on
earthquake engineering as a member of “the founding generation” in the
field to which he has contributed so much.”
Professor Chopra served on the faculty of the Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California,
Berkeley for 47 years, retiring in 2016. Following the footsteps of his
mentors Ray Clough and Joe Penzien, he
dedicated much of his career and research to the study of structural
dynamics.
Notably, he chaired the structural analysis committee of
the project producing the influential ATC-3, Tentative Provisions
for the Development of Seismic Regulations for Buildings. In this
Oral History, you will learn about this project and associated
methodologies that fundamentally changed earthquake engineering.
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.
Professor Chopra is known by his students both for
kindness and his rigor. He’d ask them about their day, their families,
and their lives. Then, he'd tell them to enroll
in an English class and he’d be right there next to them. As an advisor
and mentor, he had an “uncompromising sense of high-quality writing”
marking up first drafts with a lot of red pen and demanding strong
outlines of any paper. “First the skeleton, then the flesh,” he says. A
lover of hiking, travel, and Urdu poetry, Professor Chopra has a life,
career, and a story that begs to be shared.
Download the EERI Oral
History featuring Anil K. Chopra.
EERI gratefully acknowledges production support provided
by FEMA/U.S. Department of Homeland Security under grant
EMW-2020-CA-00029, and the University of California, Berkeley,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Select EERI membership categories (regular, retired,
honorary, and young professional) may request a complimentary
print copy (free shipping within
the United States, at this time we can not
ship to international addresses).
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