Keri Ryan
E.W. McKenzie Foundation Endowed Professor and Chair
- Phone: (775) 784-6928
- Email: klryan@unr.edu
- Building: SEM
- Room: 227
- Mailstop: 0258
What keeps me going is the hope that in my lifetime high performance/low damage structural engineering techniques will become commonplace. There is nothing better than working with a graduate student on the brink of discovery. In my spare time, I try to get to the top of more mountains.
"What keeps me going is the hope that in my lifetime high performance/low damage structural engineering techniques will become commonplace. There is nothing better than working with a graduate student on the brink of discovery. In my spare time, I try to get to the top of more mountains."
Dr. Ryan is a professor the CEE Department, specializing in the earthquake and structural engineering sub-discipline. The overarching theme of her research is development of engineering concepts and techniques for improved seismic performance, with primary applications in buildings. Much of her work has focused on seismic isolation, and she has been awarded three major National Science Foundation projects focused in this area. She led an international collaborative test program between the U.S. and Japan that conducted shake table testing of a full scale building with and without seismic isolation. This led to groundbreaking discoveries on the effect of vertical shaking, and horizontal-vertical coupling responses in buildings. Recently, Dr. Ryan has diversified her research portfolio, and has recent or ongoing projects in the areas of nonstructural components, and lower damage structural systems for timber and concrete.
- Ph.D., Structural Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 2004
- M.S., Structural Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, 1999
- B.S., Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, 1998
- Editorial Board Member for Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, Appointment commencing July 2018.
- Associate Editor, Journal of Structural Engineering (ASCE), 2012-2018.
- Chaired the Overall Organizing Committee and Fundraising Committee for Retirement Symposium and Celebration of the Career of Anil K. Chopra, Oct. 2-3, 2017.
- Peer Reviewer for ATC-120: Seismic Analysis and Design of Nonstructural Components and Systems, Phase I, 2015-2016.
- Member of ASCE 7 Seismic Subcommittee and ASCE 41 Committee since 2013, with active contribution to the Seismic Isolation and Energy Dissipation provisions.
Professional Workshop Organization
- Vertically Distributed Nonstructural Components (vNCS) Workshop (Co-Organizer), University of California, San Diego, July 18, 2018. Developed collaborative research plan with industry.
- NEES TIPS Wrap-Up Workshop (Lead Coordinator), San Diego, Sept. 18, 2013. Communicated outcomes of NEES TIPS project.
- NEES TIPS/E-Defense Full Scale Seismic Isolation Test Program, Participant Workshop (Lead Coordinator), Miki, Japan, August 17-19, 2011. Engaged participants in test program.
- TIPS: Addressing Challenges to the Adoption of Seismic Isolation Workshop #1 (Lead Coordinator), San Francisco, Nov. 30, 2007. Identified obstacles to implementation of seismic isolation and developed a research agenda
News & announcements
- December 2022 — Dr. Ryan spoke about her work on the Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) TallWood project in a recent interview with Design Safe Radio. Listen here:
- September 2022 — FP Innovations publishes a new comprehensive manual, “Modeling Guide for Timber Structures,” with more than 100 academic and industry contributors. Dr. Ryan contributed to Chapter 7.4 on Seismic Isolation Applications. This guideline is free for all to download at .
- August 2022 — NHERI TallWood Team distributes its second newsletter on the progress of the 10-story Tall Timber Test throughout the project. To join the distribution list, send an email to nheritallwoodcommunications@gmail.com with the subject line “Join Newsletter Distribution List.” All newsletters are also archived on the front page of the .
- July 2022 — Dr. Ryan awarded the McKenzie Endowed Professorship.
- July 2022 — Construction commences on the 10-story mass timber structure at UCSD. Follow progress on the
- June 2022 — Dr. Ryan presents findings on the Alaska DOT&PF-funded project to test water and ice contaminated friction pendulum bearings to the AASHTO T2: Bearings committee and T3: Seismic committee at the annual Committee on Bridges and Structures meeting in Pittsburgh.
- November 2021 — NHERI Tallwood Team releases of the 10-story structure mass timber structure to be erected and shaken at UCSD in 2022.
- January 2021 — Futurum Careers features Dr. Ryan and collaborators in an article about the NHERI TallWood Project. Futurum, with a large K-12 international audience, aims at inspiring future generations to find their passion in STEM fields.
- September 2019 — CEE Department awarded $751K GAANN Grant from the Department of Education to fund Ph.D. fellowships under the theme: Rebuilding the Nation’s Structural Infrastructure for Resilience to Extreme Events. Dr. Ryan is the Project Director for this program, which is a collaborative effort of CEE and Engineering Education. Learn more about the GAANN program.
- May 2019 — US Forest Service announces 2019 Wood Innovation Grant Awards; UNR/Dr. Ryan awarded project "Advancing Tall Mass Timber Buildings Through Seismic Resilience Testing."
- April 2019 — .
- October 2018 — Dr. Ryan gives webinar for NHERI@Lehigh Webinar series, .
NHERI TallWood Project
Professor Ryan is playing an integral role in a collaborative research venture designed to improve the earthquake resiliency of tall timber buildings as part of the NHERI TallWood Project.
Research interests
- Seismic isolation of buildings and bridges
- Influence of vertical ground shaking on the seismic response of structural and nonstructural components
- Fundamental dynamic response of structures to 3-dimensional ground shaking
- Low damage or damage tolerant lateral systems using innovative materials
- Low damage detailing of nonstructural components
- Dynamic response of buildings with post-tensioned rocking wall systems
- Influence of soil-structure interaction on vertical ground shaking
Selected publications
- Eltahawy, Walaa, Ryan, Keri L., Cesmeci, Sevki, Gordaninejad, Faramarz, “”, Structural Control and Health Monitoring, 2019.
- Eltahawy, Walaa, Ryan, Keri L., Cesmeci, Sevki, Gordaninejad, Faramarz, “”, Journal of Earthquake Engineering, 2018.
- Ryan, Keri L., Button, Martin R., Mayes, Ronald L. “”, Journal of Structural Engineering, 145(2):04018258, 2018.
- Ryan, Keri L., Okazaki, Taichiro, Coria, Camila B., Sato, Eiji, Sasaki, Tomohiro, “”, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 47(11):2214-2232. 2018.
- Guzman Pujols, Jean C., Ryan, Keri L. “”, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 47(2):438-459, 2017.
- Zargar, Hamed, Ryan, Keri L., Rawlinson, Taylor, Marshall, Justin D. “”, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 46(1):51-71, 2016.
- Mohebbi, Alireza, Ryan, Keri. L., Sanders, David H. “”, Journal of Earthquake Engineering, 21(8):1365-1384, 2016.
- Cutfield, Matt R., Ryan, Keri L., Ma, Quincy. “”, Earthquake Spectra, EERI, 32(1):323-343. 2016.
- Guzman Pujols, Jean C., Ryan, Keri L. “”, Earthquake Spectra, EERI, 32(3):1303-1324. 2015.
- Ryan, Keri L., Soroushian, Siavash, Maragakis, E. Manos, Sato, Eiji, Sasaki, Tomohiro, Okazaki, Taichiro. “Seismic simulation of an integrated ceiling-partition wall-piping system at E-Defense I: Three-dimensional structural response and base isolation”, Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 142(2):04015130, 2015.
- Soroushian, Siavash, Maragakis, E. Manos, Ryan, Keri L., Sato, Eiji, Sasaki, Tomohiro, Okazaki, Taichiro, Mosqueda, Gilberto. “”, Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 142(2):04015131, 2015.
- Ryan, Keri L., Dao, Nhan D. “”, Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, 142(1): 04015089, 2015.
- Dao, Nhan D. and Ryan, Keri L. “”, J. Struct. Eng., 140, Special Issue: Computational Simulation in Structural Engineering, A4014005, 2014.
- Dao, Nhan D., Ryan, Keri L., Sato, Eiji and Sasaki, Tomohiro. “”, Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 42(11):1677-1695, 2013.
- Warn, Gordon P. and Ryan, Keri L. “”, Buildings (Open Access), Invited manuscript for journal special issue, 2(3):300-325, 2012.
Courses taught
- CEE 120: Sustainable Infrastructure Systems
- CEE 372: Mechanics of Solids
- CEE 381: Structural Analysis
- CEE 482/682: Design of Timber Structures
- CEE 486/686: Computational Structural Analysis
- CEE 704: Finite Element Analysis
- CEE 721: Nonlinear Structural Analysis