Dr. Richard W. Stephenson, P.E., received his Ph.D. in civil engineering from Oklahoma State University in 1971. Since then he has been at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in various capacities. He has served as geotechnical engineering area head and interim department chairman. Dr. Stephenson has conducted numerous dam safety investigations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as well as for various public and private consulting clients. His research interests include deep foundations, geotechnical earthquake engineering, helical anchors, and laboratory characterization of soil behavior including hydraulic conductivity and, most recently, deterioration of foundations of Egyptian antiquities. Dr. Stephenson is a Fellow of ASCE, a member of the Academy of Civil Engineers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology and a registered professional engineer.
Dr. Ronaldo Luna joined Missouri S&T under the University’s Geotechnical Mission Enhancement Program in 1999. Prior to this appointment, he was an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering at Tulane University. He also brings industry experience through seven years of geotechnical engineering consulting with major engineering firms on the west coast. He has been PI or Co-PI in many sponsored research projects from national agencies, such as, NSF, FHWA, US Bureau of Reclamation, USGS, and DOD. Dr. Luna’s research interests include the following areas: soil mechanics and foundation engineering, earthquake engineering, hazard modeling, numerical modeling and information systems. Particular examples of his work are: spatial liquefaction evaluation, hyperspectral identification of soils, evaluation of geotechnical failures (recently Taum Sauk Dam), and others. He has published over 80 technical publications, reviewed several thesis/dissertations, and received numerous awards. He is a registered professional engineer in the states of Missouri, Washington and California and a Fellow of ASCE. He serves as the Chair of the Computational Geotechnics Committee of the Geo-Institute and also serves as member in national technical committees at NRC-Transportation Research Board. He has been editor of ASCE volumes associated with international and national conferences.