Director, IIT Jodhpur;

Professor C. V. R. Murty assumed charge as Director of IIT Jodhpur on 11 September 2013. He received B.Tech. (Civil Engineering) and M.Tech. (Civil Engineering — Structural Engineering) Degrees from IIT Madras, and Ph.D. (Civil Engineering — Structural Engineering — Earthquake Engineering) Degree from California Institute of Technology, USA. He started his career in 1992 at IIT Delhi. He worked in the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur from 1993 to 2010; he served as Head, Department of Civil Engineering during 2007-08. During 2008-2009, he was associated with IIT Madras to to help establish basic academic systems at IIT Hyderabad and start the academic programs. He was Visiting Professor at IIT Hyderabad during 2009-10. Currently, he is serving as Professor at IIT Madras from 2010.

Professor Murty’s primary research interests are (a) studying seismic nonlinear behaviour of steel and reinforced concrete (RC) buildings and bridges, (b) developing displacement-based design of structures, and (c) preparing seismic design codes. His research work is related mostly to the practical aspects of earthquake engineering research, and implementation of the same in the design guidelines and building codes of the country. He has supervised six Ph.D. and 28 Masters’ theses; currently, he is supervising the Ph.D. Theses work of four Ph.D. students.

He has been Member of Earthquake Reconnaissance Teams, which conducted extensive post-earthquake survey after the 2012 Doda, 2011 Sikkim, 2005 Kashmir, 2004 Sumatra, 2002 Diglipur, 2001 Bhuj, 1999 Chamoli, 1997 Jabalpur and 1993 Killari earthquakes. Some of these studies were also a part of Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's (EERI, USA) Learning from Earthquakes project with National Science Foundation (USA). He was the Team Leader of NDMA Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance Teams to study effects of the 2011 Sikkim and 2012 Doda Earthquakes. He conducted with his colleagues over 40 short courses in India, Nepal and Bhutan on Seismic Design of New Buildings (Reinforced Concrete, Steel and Masonry) of Bridges, and Seismic Evaluation and Strengthening of Existing Structures and which trained over 2,500 professional engineers and architects.

He actively steered in Technical Collaborations in Earthquake Engineering Research with two organisations, namely:

(1) the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI), Roorkee, India in joint collaboration research projects during 1996-2002; supervised four Masters Theses of students; and (2) the Institute of Engineering (IOE), Tribhuvan University, Katmandu, Nepal during 1997-2007 in establishing the M.Sc. Research Program in Structural Engineering (laboratory experiments, theses discussions, and External Examiner M.Sc. Theses).

He has been associated with major revisions of the Indian seismic codes on seismic design provisions for buildings and bridges, as Member of Bureau of Indian Standards and Indian Roads Congress code committees. He has authored/co-authored four books, three research reports and one book-chapter on earthquake resistant design and construction. The book IITK-BMTPC Earthquake Tips Series on Learning Earthquake Resistant Design and Construction received the ICI Best Construction Technique Paper Award for the year 2004-2005. He was the Editor-in-Chief, World Housing Encyclopedia, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, USA, during October 2005 – July 2008, and is currently its Editor.

He was a Principal Author, National Disaster Management Policy and Guidelines – Earthquakes; this policy document (approved in April 2007) by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India, is the primary policy document identifying comprehensive action plan items to be undertaken in the march towards seismic safety in India. Also, he is Member of other Technical Committees of NDMA to develop guidelines for safety against tsunamis, seismic retrofitting of buildings and hospitals, techno-financial policy for banks, and seismic macrozonation of India, and earthquake engineering education in India. He served as Honorary Advisor (Earthquake Mitigation), Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, during June 2005 – July 2007. Since May 2013, he is Member of the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai.

Since 2010, he has been Member of the Technical Advisory Committee on Structural Safety of temples and associated structures under the control of Endowments Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, 2010-present. Currently, he is Chairman, Study Group on the Indian Engineering Heritage (Civil) of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, New Delhi, to develop a white paper on status and future of Civil Engineering Heritage in India, 2010-present.

He is a Fellow, Indian National Academy of Engineering; Fellow, Institution of Engineers (India); Life Member, Indian Society of Earthquake Technology; Life Member, Indian Roads Congress; Associate Member, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (USA); Life Member, Indian Concrete Institute; Life Member, Institute for Steel Development and Growth; Life Member, Institution of Engineers (India); Life Member, Indian Society for Advancement of Materials and Processing Engineering; and Life Member, Indian Archaeological Society.