We recently lost three giants in the Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering profession, who TC203 would like to acknowledge.
Professors Kenji Ishihara, Liam Finn, and Shamsher Prakash passed in December 2025. Some of their contributions are summarize below:
Professor Ishihara defined excellence in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering. He co-led the creation of TC203, which was formerly TC4. He initiated our primary specialty conference. His technical accomplishments are numerous. He had one of the most profound impacts on the advancement of knowledge in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering. Our biannual honours lecture carries his name.
Professor Finn had a profound impact on Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering. He co-led the creation of TC203. His advancement of nonlinear dynamic analyses was instrumental to advancing our profession. Liam was also a good friend to many of us. He exchanged ideas with us, shared advice freely, and cared deeply about the practice of Geotechnical Engineering internationally.
Professor Prakash was a visionary in Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering. He was a leader in developing and sharing advances in soil dynamics and earthquake engineering. His conferences brought many of us together. His investment in honoring young engineers and researchers established the Shamsher Prakash Award.
Their In Memoriams, which provide more information on each person, are provided at the links below:
https://www.geoengineer.org/education/history/in-memoriam-announcements/kenji-ishihara-1934-2025
https://www.geoengineer.org/education/history/in-memoriam-announcements/w-d-liam-finn-19332025
https://www.geoengineer.org/education/history/in-memoriam-announcements/shamsher-prakash-1933-2025
