Paul Tapponnier

Biography

"Professional Experience 2009 to Present  Full Professor and Head of Tectonics and Earthquake Research, Earth Observatory of Singapore (an institute of Nanyang Technological University) 1991 to 2009  Director of the Tectonics Department, Institut de Physique du Globe, Paris  Full Professor with tenure (Physicien, classe exceptionnelle), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (since 1991)  Director (1984-1996, 2001-2004) of Unité Mixte de Recherche 7578, ""Tectonique, Mécanique de la Lithosphère"" (one of the research Laboratory of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)  Distinguished visiting scientist, JPL  January - July 2000 : invited professor, Caltech, USA  February 2008 - April 2009 : invited professor, Schlumberger/Saudi Aramco, KSA 1986 to 1990 Full Professor, (Physicien Titulaire, 2nd then 1st class), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, tenured. 1980 to 1985 Associate Professor (Physicien Adjoint), Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, with tenure. National and International Awards  Silver Medal of Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France, 1984  ""Alfred Wegener"" Medal of European Union of Geosciences, 1985  Grand Prix Scientifique de la ville de Paris, 1990  Knight of National Order of Legion of Honour, France, 1991  Best Paper award, Geological Society of America, 1994  Fellow of American Geophysical Union, 1994  Honorary Fellow of Geological Society of America, 1996  Friendship Medal, China, 1998  Francis Birch Lecturer, American Geophysical Union, 1999  Lyell Medal, Geological Society, London, 2001  Foreign associate Member of the National Academy of Science (USA), 2005  Member of the French Academy of sciences, 2005 (Corresponding member since 1994)  Honorary Fellow of the Geological Society of London, 2008 Education M.S. Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris, 1970 Major: Geology - Geophysics Ingénieur Civil des Mines de Paris Doctorat d'Etat: Université des Sciences et Techniques du Languedoc, Montpellier, 1978 (""Intracontinental Tectonics in Alpine Europe and Asia"", with honours). I have headed several research cruises on oceanographic ships and numerous field projects in many countries of the Mediterranean, central, eastern and Himalayan Asia (including thirty five trips to Tibet), and north and east Africa, concerning subjects ranging from Plate Tectonics to rock deformation, seismotectonics to structural geology, remote sensing to morphotectonics and climate change, Tertiary metamorphism to Paleomagnetism."

Research Interest

"1. Continental Dynamics and Tectonics, with particular emphasis on collision zones, plateaux and mountain belts, particularly in Asian-Mediterranean regions. 2. Active faulting and seismotectonics, earthquake hazard assessment. 3.Quantitative Geomorphology, state-of-the-art determination of current rates of active deformation processes. 4.Rock mechanics and rock deformation physics."