Shaky award

A Chico State professor has been recognized as a national expert on earthquakes—particularly, how buildings respond to them.

Curt Haselton (pictured) received the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute’s (EERI) 2013 Shah Family Innovation Prize, awarded annually for creativity and innovation in earthquake risk mitigation and management, with preference to those focused on preventing the loss of lives in earthquakes, according to a Chico State press release. Haselton has developed a national reputation for his use of nonlinear dynamic analysis, a method representing how buildings respond to seismic activity.

Haselton is chair of Chico State’s Department of Civil Engineering and teaches upper-division courses in earthquake and wind engineering and steel design. He will be presented with the award, which includes a $6,000 cash prize, in July at EERI’s annual meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.