BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
MEHMET T. TÜMAY, Ph.D., P.E.
Dr. Mehmet T. Tümay, Fellow and a Life Member of the
American Society of Civil Engineers, is the Georgia Gulf Distinguished
Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at
Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has been on active
LSU Faculty 1976-2005, and has served the LSU College of Engineering as the
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, and as Director of the Donald
W. Clayton Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Engineering Science, May 1997
– July 2004. Dr. Tümay received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Robert College
School of Engineering, University of Virginia, and Istanbul Technical
University, respectively. He also holds a postdoctoral Docent degree from
Istanbul Technical University. His academic, research and consulting
affiliations include universities, research institutions, and industry in the
U.S., The Netherlands, France, Turkey, Republic of Korea, Norway, Taiwan, Poland,
Brazil and People’s Republic of China.
Dr. Tümay is currently also affiliated as an Adjunct Professor at Bogazici University in
Istanbul, Turkey.
Dr. Tümay’s major field of interest is geotechnical
engineering. He has done extensive research for the past 40 years in the areas
of in-situ evaluation of engineering properties of soils, soil physico-chemical
behavior, and novel methods of soil improvement. He has earned national and
international recognition from the consulting and academic communities for his
pioneering research accomplishments, mainly in electronic cone penetration and
computer-aided data collection/reduction systems for evaluation of the
engineering behavior of geomedia. He was recently recognized “for
outstanding contributions to the profession, research and education in
geotechnical engineering,” at the GeoShanghai 2006 International
Conference in Shanghai, China, June 2006. He was inducted to the LSU Department
Civil and Environmental Engineering Hall of Distinction “to recognize
individuals who have made stalwart contributions to the profession,”April 2009.
Dr. Tümay has served as Project Director / Principal
Investigator of numerous grants from prestigious national and international
agencies, including the U.S. National Science Foundation, the office of Naval
Research, the Federal Highway Administration, the National Cooperative Highway
Research Program, the French Ministry of Research, and the United Nations
Development Program. A major international consulting company from the
Netherlands established the Fugro post-doctoral fellowship at LSU dedicated to
the advancement of in-situ testing under Dr. Tümay’s supervision.
The research, scholarly activities, and leadership
of Dr. Tümay have played a key role in the progress made by the LSU
geotechnical group, in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.
The funding for the research and educational program of the seven-member
geotechnical faculty has increased to more than $5,000,000 under Dr. Tümay’s
coordination during 1980-1990 focusing on in-situ testing, geo environmental
engineering, ground improvement and marine geotechnics.
During 1990-1994 Dr. Tümay served as the Director of
the Geomechanical, Geotechnical & Geo-Environmental Systems (G3S) program
at the National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., on an Intergovernmental
Professional Act (IPA) assignment. During his tenure the budgetary and
technical scope of the G3S program he directed was enhanced by 30% to
approximately $3,000,000 annually through active involvement and collaboration
with other government agencies such as FHWA, EPA, DOE, AFOSR, intra-NSF
programs and industry. Inter- and multi-disciplinary research areas of
infrastructure development, environmental geotechnology, underground space development,
and high performance geomedia materials and systems were expanded.
Multi-national technology transfer and international research efforts were
encouraged through Workshops held in France, Canada, Turkey, P.R. of China,
Brazil, Scandinavia, and Taiwan to enhance bi-lateral scholarly collaboration.
In March 1994, Dr. Tümay was appointed as the
Director of Research at Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC) to
initiate/broaden technology development and implementation concepts, and expand
the nationally competitive cross-disciplinary funding base from external
sources. LTRC is sponsored jointly by Louisiana State University (LSU) and the
Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LDOTD), and is
primarily funded by State funds. During Dr. Tümay’s tenure as Director of
Research March 1994 - May 1997, LTRC has been awarded research grants and
contracts from National Science Foundation, National Cooperative Highway
Research Program, Federal Highway Administration, Priority Technologies Program,
U.S.C.E. Waterways Experiment Station, and private industry. As a result of
this effort, the external research-funding base has grown from zero to in
excess of $2,000,000. This constituted approximately 25% of the LTRC research
and development budget. As Associate Dean for Research, and a member of the
LTRC Policy Committee, Dr. Tümay continued to participate in the planning and
development of LTRC’s research expansion project.
Dr. Tümay has done extensive design and consulting
for state, private, national and international agencies. In addition, he has
successfully conducted special workshops, programs, and seminars at
universities, agencies and industrial institutions worldwide. He has served as
Maitre de Conference en Mechanique des Sols, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et
Chaussees, Paris, France, and as an Advisory Professor to Tongji University,
Shanghai, P.R. China, and Federal University of Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
He participates actively in various professional organizations, including American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), National Research Council (NRC),
Transportation Research Board (TRB), National Cooperative Highway Research
Program (NCHRP), U.S. Universities’ Council on Geotechnical Engineering
Research (USUCGER), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the
International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE),
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), and American Society
of Engineering Education (ASEE).
He is a member of many national and international
technical committees, and was Chairman of NRC/TRB Section A2L00 (New AFP00)
“Geology and Properties of Earth Materials,” 1996-2002, overseeing 6 technical
committees, A2L01-A2L06 (New AFP20 – AFP60), and was on the NRC/TRB Group
A2000 (NewAF000) Council on “Design and Construction of Transportation
Facilities, and served as Chairman of the “Scope, Organization and Function
Committee, 1999-2002. He was Chairman of TRB Committee A2L02 (New AFP30) - Soil
and Rock Properties 1989-1995. In 2003, Dr. Tümay was elevated to Member
Emeritus status of Committee A2L02 (New AFP30).
In 1994 he was elected to the Board of Directors of
U.S. Universities’ Council on Geotechnical Engineering Research, USUCGER, and
served as treasurer 1994-1996, and as the president 1997 - 1999. Dr. Tümay served
as Associate Editor (Assessment Technologies) of the ASCE Journal of
Infrastructure Systems 1994-2004, and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of
the Geotechnical Engineering Division of the American Society of Civil
Engineers 1984-1994. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Electronic
Journal of Geotechnical Engineering (World Wide Web of Geotechnical Engineers).
He is an Editorial Advisory Board Member of the Jordan Journal of Civil
Engineering, an International Refereed Research Journal. He has been active in
ASCE Committees on Publications, Placement and Improvement of Soils, and Safety
and Reliability.
Dr. Tümay served as a charter member of the
Academic Research Council (ARC) of the Civil Engineering Research Foundation
(CERF) 1995-2002, and represented LTRC on the National Council for Civil
Engineering Research (NCCER) of CERF. He
was a member of The Engineer and Surveyor Selection
Board, City of Baton Rouge Parish of East Baton Rouge, 2004 –2006. He was selected as Louisiana
State University’s recipient of the Louisiana Engineering Foundation Faculty
Professionalism Award for 2001. His scholarly activities include more than 150
published scientific articles, and contributions to numerous conferences and
symposia. He has presented invited papers worldwide on technical topics and
general research, education and policy issues in geotechnical engineering, and
general civil infrastructure.
Louisiana State University
Department of Civil & Environmental
Engineering
Patrick F. Taylor Hall 3505-A
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Phone: 225-578-9165, Cell:
225-921-2630, Fax: 225-924-6824
E-Mail: mtumay@eng.lsu.edu