Dr. James K. Mitchell, a National Academy of Engineering member and University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech, will present the Shamsher and Sally Prakash Distinguished Lecture at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, May 3, in Room 121 Butler-Carlton Civil Engineering Hall.
Mitchell’s talk is titled “Geotechical surprises – or are they?” He will highlight three illustrative case histories and discuss how they were reviewed and if what went wrong could have been anticipated.
The Shamsher and Sally Prakash Distinguished Lecture Series was established through a gift from Dr. Shamsher Prakash, professor emeritus of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, and his wife, Sally.
Shamsher Prakash joined Missouri S&T’s civil engineering faculty in 1978 as an associate professor in geotechnical engineering. He retired in 2000. Prakash made numerous contributions to the field of geotechnical earthquake engineering, and he is recognized for advancing the study of soil dynamics and earthquake engineering. He is considered a pioneer in the liquefaction of silts and clays, as well as soil-pile-structure interactions.