Kostas Synolakis

Academician, Professor Mr. Costas Emmanuel Synolakis graduated from the College of Athens in 1975. He continued his studies at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) where he received his Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degrees in Engineering and Applied Science in 1978. , Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Civil Engineering in 1979 and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in the same subject in 1986. In 2016 he was elected a regular member of the Academy of Athens and is Secretary of the Academy's Class of Positive Sciences.

Since 1985 he has been a Professor of Civil, Environmental and Aerospace Engineering at the Viterbi School of Engineering of the University of Southern California (USC), while in 1996 he founded the first Tsunami Research Center at USC. Research and Technology Council, and as Professor of Natural Disasters and Environmental Hydraulic Engineering at the Technical University of Crete. In 2019, he was elected as the unpaid President of the Special Scientific Committee to Combat Climate Change in Greece. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Space Center. Since 2020, he has been the Director/President of the College of Athens.

His research and writing work is extensive. He has authored a large number of publications, studies and articles in scientific journals. He has led dozens of field missions around the world, while at the same time he has received many academic and other distinctions in Greece and abroad. Indicatively, in 1989 he was awarded by the President of the USA. George Bush Presidential Young Investigator Award and in 2019 he received the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) top award in coastal engineering. In 2020, he received the Hamaguchi Prize, which is awarded to individuals or organizations that, through scientific research and pragmatic practices, have made a significant contribution to strengthening the resilience of coasts against tidal waves (tsunamis), storms and other coastal disasters, as well as in informing and people's resilience to natural disasters. He is an internationally renowned expert on Tsunami issues and other natural disaster phenomena.

Professor Synolakis has authored five books, supervised over 50 graduate and doctoral students, delivered over 220 lectures and conference presentations, and co-produced dozens of documentaries that have aired on major networks such as the Discovery Channel, the BBC, the National Geographic, the History Channel and ZDF.