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. |