Dr. Rafael L. Bras (born 1950) is an American Civil Engineer and currently serves as Provost to the Georgia Institute of Technology.[1]
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Bras was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He studied at MIT, where he received a B.S. in 1972, an M.S., 1974, and an Sc.D., 1975. On completion of his doctorate, he worked for a time as an assistant professor at the University of Puerto Rico school of engineering, and performed some consulting work on the island.
He returned to MIT where he has held multiple positions. His last position there was an endowed professorship in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is a former department head, and also holds a joint appointment in the Department of Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. He has served as Associate Director, Center for Global Change Science.
As an engineering hydrologist, his major areas of interest include land-atmosphere interactions and geomorphology. He is considered one of the world's leading experts in global warming, and has also served as a professional consultant in multiple projects around the world.
He is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union and the Boston Society of Civil Engineers, and a member of the International Association for Hydraulic Research and the American Meteorological Society. He is also a registered professional engineer in several states. He is listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by ISI.
On April 24, 2008, Bras was appointed as dean of The Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, effective September 1, 2008 [1].
On July 15, 2010, Bras was named provost of the Georgia Institute of Technology.[1][2]