European Academy of Sciences honors Rice’s Pol Spanos with prestigious award

HOUSTON – (May 31, 2024) – For his “exceptional contributions to the field of dynamics,” Pol Spanos, the Lewis B. Ryon Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at Rice University, has been awarded the 2024 Blaise Pascal Medal in Engineering by the European Academy of Sciences.

Spanos, who joined the Rice faculty in 1984, was recognized for his “theoretical insights, ranging from equivalent linearization to statistical quadratization, which have significantly advanced our understanding of structural behavior. These insights have not only led to more accurate predictions but have also empowered engineers to make better-informed decisions.”

The medal is named for Blaise Pascal (1623-62), the French mathematician, physicist, inventor and philosopher who developed an early version of a mechanical calculator. Spanos will formally receive the medal at the 2024 Symposium and Ceremony of the European Academy of Sciences to be held Oct. 29-30 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Along with the European Academy of Sciences, Spanos is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Europe, the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, the National Academy of Greece, the Russian Academy of Engineering, the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is a fellow of both the American Academy of Mechanics and the Engineering Mechanics Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

He has advised more than 55 doctorate and 75 master’s students and has a joint appointment in materials science and nanoengineering. He has published more than 400 technical papers and authored or edited more than 20 books and conference volumes. For more than three decades he has served as editor-in-chief for the International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics and Probabilistic Engineering Mechanics.

Spanos is a recent president of the Engineering Mechanics Institute and a recent chair of the executive board of the International Association for Structural Safety and Reliability. He has been elected an honorary member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) and the ASCE, the highest honor given by each organization; he is also an ASME Gold Medalist, its most prestigious medal.

⎯ by Patrick Kurp, science writer for the George R. Brown School of Engineering

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CAPTION: Pol Spanos is the Lewis B. Ryon Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at Rice University.