KISHOR C. MEHTA
WHIP CENTER DIRECTOR
P. W. Horn Professor, Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering
Texas Tech University
PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
P. W. Horn Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, Texas Tech University (1964- 2011; 2015-present)
Program Director of Structural and Architectural Engineering and Materials and Co-Program Director of Engineering for Natural Hazards, the National Science Foundation, Washington, DC (2011-2015)
Interim Dean of Engineering, Texas Tech University (1994-1995)
Design Engineer, M C & S Corp., Glen Canyon Dam Construction Site, Page, Arizona (1958-1961)
SIGNIFICANT HONORS AND AWARDS
- Elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2004)
- Inducted as Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (2017)
- Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (2002)
- ASCE Cermak Medal for Wind Engineering (2014)
SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES
- Developed new programs in Engineering for Natural Hazards and Structural and Architectural Engineering and Materials at the National Science Foundation during the tenure as Program Director (2011-2015).
- Chairman of three conferences on wind engineering at Texas Tech University; 1. The Tornado Symposium in 1976, 2. The Fifth Americas Conference on Wind Engineering in 1985, and 3. The Eleventh International Conference on Wind Engineering in 2003.
- Organized and instructed in annual professional short course on Engineering for Extreme Winds held at Texas Tech University (1972 – 2005). Also developed and instructed in a two-day professional short course Wind Loads on Buildings and Structures at 50 locations around the country for ASCE during 1995 – 2006.
- Director and Principal Investigator for Cooperative Program on Wind Engineering with Colorado State University funded by NSF (1986-1995) and Windstorm Mitigation Initiative program funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST (1998-2005).
- Committee member of the National Advisory Committee on Windstorm Impact Reduction , NIST, 2017; Advisory Board for the Global Center of Excellence in Wind Engineering, Tokyo Polytechnic University, Japan, 2009-2013; National Institute of Building Science Oversight Committee for Wind in HAZUS, 2001-2007; Wind Damage Mitigation Committee of the Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction, 1992-1995; Panel on Assessment of Wind Engineering Issues in the United States, National Research Council, Chairman of the Wind Load Committee for ASCE 7, 1977 – 1995.