Academy of Distinguished Alumni
Raymond B. Seed Ph.D.
Inducted to the Academy of Distinguished Alumni on
Raymond B. Seed received his Ph.D. (1983), M.S. degree (1981), and B.S. degree (1980) in Civil Engineering, all from the University of California, Berkeley. His graduate school focus was in geotechnical engineering. Professor Seed spent his entire career in academia, first as an Assistant Professor at Stanford University, then, for more than 30 years, as a distinguished member of the Berkeley CEE faculty. He retired from the active faculty in 2018, at which time he became Professor Emeritus.
As a member of the faculty, Professor Seed excelled as both a teacher and researcher. As a teacher, he received the University Distinguished Teaching Award, the university's highest teaching honor, plus multiple teaching awards at the CEE level. He served as the Ph.D. supervisor for 26 students. His research is having a major impact on geotechnical practice in a number of areas, including: compaction-induced stresses and deformations in earth structures; seismic stability analysis of dams and embankments; analysis of soil liquefaction potential and post-liquefaction behavior; analysis of reinforced soil systems and deep braced excavations; mitigation of membrane compliance effects in undrained testing of granular soils; effects of site conditions on seismic site response; finite element analysis of soil-structure interaction; and stability and performance evaluation for hazardous waste landfills.
Professor Seed was a prolific, high-caliber researcher and author or co-author of more than 200 peer-reviewed technical papers and reports. From ASCE, he is the recipient of the Edmund Friedman Young Engineer Award (1989), Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Award (1989), Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize (1996), and Thomas A. Middlebrooks Award (1987, 2006, and 2015). Among his other awards are the Engineering Educator Excellence Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (1998) and the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Professor Seed has a long history of service to the profession, including in committee and/or leadership roles for ASCE, International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, California Division of Mines and Geology, Transportation Research Board, National Science Foundation, Structural Engineers Associations of Northern California, and American Society for Engineering Education. Through it all, he has been a strong advocate for and contributor to the Berkeley CEE program.