Biography

Tom Jordan is the Director of the Southern California Earthquake Center and the W. M. Keck Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of Southern California, where SCEC is headquartered.

He is responsible for all aspects of SCEC's program, which currently involves over 600 scientists at more than 60 universities and research institutions. He is a member of the California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council and the Governing Council of the National Academy of Sciences. He is the author or co-author of approximately 170 scientific publications, including the NAS decadal report, Living on an Active Earth: Perspectives on Earthquake Science, and a popular textbook, Understanding Earth (5th edition).

He received his Ph.D. from Caltech in 1972 and taught at Princeton University and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography before joining the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the Robert R. Shrock Professor in 1984. He served as the head of MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences for the decade 1988-1998. In 2000, he moved from MIT to USC. He has been awarded the Macelwane and Lehmann Medals of the American Geophysical Union and the Woollard Award of the Geological Society of America. He has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

Education

B.A. , California Institute of Technology, 6/1969

M.S. , California Institute of Technology, 6/1970

Ph.D. , California Institute of Technology, 8/1972

Academic Appointment, Affiliation, and Employment History

University Professor, University of Southern California, 01/01/2004-Present

Director, Southern California Earthquake Center, 02/01/2002-Present

W.M. Keck Foundation Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Southern California, 09/01/2000-Present

Robert R. Shrock Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1984-2000

Head, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1988-1998

Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 1982-1984

Associate Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 1977-1982

Assistant Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 1975-1977

Assistant Professor, Princeton University, 1972-1975

Honors and Awards

Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, Inge Lehman Medal of the American Geophysical Union, 2005-Present

Appointment to University Professor, University of Southern California, 2004-Present

Election to American Philosophical Society, Member, 2002-Present

National Associate Award, National Academy of Sciences, Member, 1998-Present

Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, George P. Woollard Award of the Geological Society of America, 1998

Election to American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member, 1995-Present

Recipient of National or International Prize in Discipline, James B. Macelwane Award of the American Geophysical Union, 1983

Endowed Chair, W. M. Keck Foundation Chair in Geological Sciences, 2000-5/15/2010

Fellow (or Equivalent) of National Society in Discipline, American Geophysical Union, 1983

Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, 1980-1982

National Merit Scholar, 1965-1969

Service to the University

Review Panels

Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Visiting Committee, 2009-

Department Earth & Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Visiting Committee, 2006-

USC Department of Computer Science, Internal Review Committee, 2003-

ETH Zürich, Visiting Committee, 2002-

Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Visiting Committee, 1995-

Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Visiting Committee, 1995-

Southern California Earthquake Center (USC), Advisory Committee, 1991-2001

Stanford School of Earth Sciences, Advisory Board, 1990-1996

Service to the Profession

Committees

Chair, National Academy of Sciences Presidential Nominating Committee, 2010-

Member, Seismological Society of America - Board of Directors, 2010-

Chair, International Commission on Earthquake Forecasting for Civil Protection, 2009-

Member, National Earthquake Resilience Committee, National Research Council, 2009-

Member, National Research Council Governing Board, 2008-

Chair, Board of Directors, Southern California Earthquake Center, 2002-

Member, Advisory Council, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, 2002-

Member, California Earthquake Prediction Evaluation Council, 2002-

Member, U.S.-Japan Natural Resources Panel on Earthquake Research, 2000-

Member, Class Membership Committee, National Academy of Sciences, 2009-2010

Member, National Academy of Sciences Council Executive Committee, 2008-2009

Member, National Academy of Sciences Council , 2006-2009

Member, Class Membership Committee, National Academy of Sciences, 2007-2008

Member, Scientific Earthquake Studies Advisory Committee, USGS, 2002-2006

Member, Class Membership Committee, National Academy of Sciences, 2005-2006

Member, NSF/GEO Cyberinfrastructure Steering Committee, 2002-2005

Member, EarthScope Science and Education Committee, 2002-2005

Chair, NSF/EAR Advisory Subcommittee, 2002-2004

Member, Research Committee of the California Seismic Safety Commission, 2002-2004

Member, NSF/GEO Advisory Committee, 2001-2004

Member, Board of Directors, Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, 1984-2004

Member, National Academy of Sciences Presidential Nominating Committee, 2003-2004

Member, EarthScope Working Group, 1998-2002

Chair, NRC Committee on the Science of Earthquakes, 1996-2002

Member, Class Membership Committee, National Academy of Sciences, 1999-2001

Member, Executive Committee, Incorporated Research Institute for Seismology, 1998-2001

Chair, NRC Committee on Basic Research Opportunities in the Earth Sciences, 1998-2000

Member, Technical Advisory Council, Mobil Oil Corporation, 1997-2000

Chair, NRC Committee on Seismology, 1992-1998

Member, Advisory Panel on Federal Efforts to Reduce Earthquake Damage, Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, 1994-1995

Member, NRC Board on Earth Sciences and Resources Executive Committee , 1990-1993

Member, NRC Board on Earth Sciences and Resources, 1989-1993

Chair, U.S. National Network Working Group, U.S. Geological Survey Chair , 1987-1991

Member, Earth Sciences Proposal Review Panel, National Science Foundation, 1986-1988

Chair, Department of Defense Technical Review Panel on Threshold Test-Ban Treaty Verification Issues, 1985-1988

Member, National Research Council Committee on Seismology, 1983-1986

Member, IUGS Commission for Marine Geology, 1982-1986

Member, Department of Defense Technical Review Panel on Threshold Test-Ban Treaty Verification Issues, 1981-1985

Secretary, Seismology Section, American Geophysical Union, 1982-1984