James M. Ricles, Lehigh’s Bruce G. Johnston Professor of Structural Engineering, has been named to the editorial board of Engineering Structures, serving as an editor-in-chief.
The journal is one of the flagship publications in the areas of structural engineering and structural mechanics, with a primary focus on “new developments or innovative applications of structural and mechanics principles and digital technologies for the analysis and design of engineering structures,” according to its website.
In 2022, Engineering Structures had a Journal Impact Factor of 5.5 and was ranked 19 out of 139 journals in the “Engineering, Civil” category, according to Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate Analytics).
Ricles is one of three editors-in-chief serving alongside lead editor-in-chief Jie Yang (RMIT University, Australia).
At Lehigh, Ricles is the director of the Real-Time Multidirectional Facility for Seismic Performance Simulation of Large-Scale Structural Systems, which is part of the NHERI Lehigh EF, an NSF-supported Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure Equipment Facility.
He conducts experimental and analytical research in areas such as innovative seismic-resistant steel structures, composite steel-concrete structures, structural steel connections, advanced simulation methods (including real-time hybrid simulation for dynamic loading), and the rehabilitation and assessment of damaged and deteriorated buildings and offshore structures.
He also teaches courses in structural dynamics, structural reliability, linear and nonlinear structural analysis, and stability and design of steel structures.
Ricles has been recognized with numerous awards over his career, including a Special Achievement Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers Raymond C. Reese Research Prize. He is an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award recipient, a NASA Research Fellowship awardee, and an American Institute of Steel Construction National Fellow. He was also honored with a Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Arc Welded Design.
Ricles holds a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MS in civil engineering and a BS in architectural engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.