Dr. Mehmet T. Tumay, Fellow and a Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, is the Georgia Gulf Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU), Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has been on active LSU Faculty 1976-2005, and has served the LSU College of Engineering as the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, and as Director of the Donald W. Clayton Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Engineering Science, May 1997 July 2004. Dr. Tumay received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Robert College School of Engineering, University of Virginia, and Istanbul Technical University, respectively. He also holds a postdoctoral Docent degree from Istanbul Technical University. His academic, research and consulting affiliations include universities, research institutions, and industry in the U.S., The Netherlands, France, Turkey, Korea, Norway, Taiwan, Poland, Brazil and Peoples Republic of China. Dr. Tumay is currently a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Korean Advanced Institute for Science and Technology (KAIST) in Deajon, S. Korea, and an Adjunct Professor at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey.
Dr. Tumays major field of interest is geotechnical engineering. He has done extensive research for the past 40 years in the areas of in-situ evaluation of engineering properties of soils, soil physico-chemical behavior, and novel methods of soil improvement. He has earned national and international recognition from the consulting and academic communities for his pioneering research accomplishments, mainly in electronic cone penetration and computer-aided data collection/reduction systems for evaluation of the engineering behavior of geomedia.
Dr. Tumay has served as Project Director / Principal Investigator of numerous grants from prestigious national and international agencies, including the U.S. National Science Foundation, the office of Naval Research, the Federal Highway Administration, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program, the French Ministry of Research, and the United Nations Development Program. A major international consulting company from the Netherlands established the Fugro post-doctoral fellowship at LSU dedicated to the advancement of in-situ testing under Dr. Tumays supervision.
The research, scholarly activities, and leadership of Dr. Tumay have played a key role in the progress made by the LSU geotechnical group, in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. The funding for the research and educational program of the seven-member geotechnical faculty has increased to more than $5,000,000 under Dr. Tumays coordination during 1980-1990 focusing on in-situ testing, geo environmental engineering, ground improvement and marine geotechnics.
During 1990-1994 Dr. Tumay served as the Director of the Geomechanical, Geotechnical & Geo-Environmental Systems (G3S) program at the National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., on an Intergovernmental Professional Act (IPA) assignment. During his tenure the budgetary and technical scope of the G3S program he directed was enhanced by 30% to approximately $3,000,000 annually through active involvement and collaboration with other government agencies such as FHWA, EPA, DOE, AFOSR, intra-NSF programs and industry. Inter- and multi-disciplinary research areas of infrastructure development, environmental geotechnology, underground space development, and high performance geomedia materials and systems were expanded. Multi-national technology transfer and international research efforts were encouraged through Workshops held in France, Canada, Turkey, P.R. of China, Brazil, Scandinavia, and Taiwan to enhance bi-lateral scholarly collaboration.
In March 1994, Dr. Tumay was appointed as the Director of Research at Louisiana Transportation Research Center (LTRC) to initiate/broaden technology development and implementation concepts, and expand the nationally competitive cross-disciplinary funding base from external sources. LTRC is sponsored jointly by Louisiana State University (LSU) and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LDOTD), and is primarily funded by State funds. During Dr. Tumays tenure as Director of Research March 1994 - May 1997, LTRC has been awarded research grants and contracts from National Science Foundation, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Federal Highway Administration, Priority Technologies Program, U.S.C.E. Waterways Experiment Station, and private industry. As a result of this effort, the external research-funding base has grown from zero to in excess of $2,000,000. This constituted approximately 25% of the LTRC research and development budget. As Associate Dean for Research, and a member of the LTRC Policy Committee, Dr. Tumay continued to participate in the planning and development of LTRCs research expansion project.
Dr. Tumay has done extensive design and consulting for state, private, national and international agencies. In addition, he has successfully conducted special workshops, programs, and seminars at universities, agencies and industrial institutions worldwide. He has served as Maitre de Conference en Mechanique des Sols, Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees, Paris, France, and as an Advisory Professor to Tongji University, Shanghai, P.R. China, and Federal University of Vicosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He participates actively in various professional organizations, including American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), National Research Council (NRC), Transportation Research Board (TRB), National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), U.S. Universities Council on Geotechnical Engineering Research (USUCGER), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), and American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).
He is a member of many national and international technical committees, and was Chairman of NRC/TRB Section A2L00 (New AFP00) Geology and Properties of Earth Materials, 1996-2002, overseeing 6 technical committees, A2L01-A2L06 (New AFP20 AFP60), and was on the NRC/TRB Group A2000 (NewAF000) Council on Design and Construction of Transportation Facilities, and served as Chairman of the Scope, Organization and Function Committee, 1999-2002. He was Chairman of TRB Committee A2L02 (New AFP30) - Soil and Rock Properties 1989-1995. In 2003, Dr. Tumay was elevated to Member Emeritus status of Committee A2L02 (New AFP30).
In 1994 he was elected to the Board of Directors of U.S. Universities Council on Geotechnical Engineering Research, USUCGER, and served as treasurer 1994-1996, and as the president 1997 - 1999. Dr. Tumay served as Associate Editor (Assessment Technologies) of the ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems 1994-2004, and on the Editorial Board of the Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers 1984-1994. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering (World Wide Web of Geotechnical Engineers). He has been active in ASCE Committees on Publications, and Placement and Improvement of Soils, and Safety and Reliability.
Dr. Tumay served as a charter member of the Academic Research Council (ARC) of the Civil Engineering Research Foundation (CERF) 1995-2002, and represented LTRC on the National Council for Civil Engineering Research (NCCER) of CERF. He was selected as Louisiana State Universitys recipient of the Louisiana Engineering Foundation Faculty Professionalism Award for 2001. His scholarly activities include more than 150 published scientific articles, and contributions to numerous conferences and symposia. He has presented invited papers worldwide on technical topics and general research, education and policy issues in geotechnical engineering, and general civil infrastructure.
CEBA Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Louisiana State University
College of Engineering
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Phone : 225-578-9165
Cell : 225-921-2630
Fax : 225-924-6824
E-Mail : mtumay@eng.lsu.edu