L. Sebastian Bryson, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE, the current Hardin-Drnevich-Huang professor in the Department of Civil Engineering with a joint appointment in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Kentucky, has been named a fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction.
Bryson’s expertise is in the area of applied geotechnics, which includes landslide hazard assessment and prediction, laboratory testing of geologic materials, geophysics geotechnics, performance of civil infrastructure, and numerical modeling of geotechnical systems.
He is noted for his research efforts focusing on evaluating the response of infrastructure adjacent to deep excavations in soft clay. Bryson used a combination of deep excavation field data and numerical simulations to develop a performance-based design methodology that facilitates the designing of the excavation support system in such a way as limits excavation-induced damage to adjacent buildings. Bryson is also noted for his focus on landslide geohazards. He developed a framework for using field electrical resistivity measurements to predict shear strength within a hillslope environment.
In addition, Bryson has extensive experience with saturated and unsaturated triaxial testing of soil with bender element measurements to capture small-strain soil behavior under different state conditions. His research has led to the development of a multiphase, fully coupled hydromechanical constitutive model that describes real-time hydromechanical behavior of unsaturated soils as a function of hydrologic variations.
In 2021, Bryson received certification as Diplomate Geotechnical Engineer (D.GE) by the Academy of Geo-Professionals (AGP) of ASCE in recognition for his specialized knowledge and skills, professional ethics, commitment to lifelong learning, and continued professional development in the field of geotechnical engineering. In 2020, he was elected as a Bluegrass Academic Leadership Academy Fellow by the Bluegrass Higher Education Consortium (BHEC). Bryson was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society, in 2007. In 2004 he was awarded the ASCE Thomas A. Middlebrooks Award for his paper titled “Performance of a Stiff Excavation Support System in Soft Clay.”
Bryson received his doctoral degree from Northwestern University in 2002, his Master of Engineering degree from Howard University in 1992, and his Bachelor of Science degree from the Florida A&M University / Florida State University College of Engineering in 1987. He teaches undergraduate courses in foundation engineering and Introduction to Research. He also teaches graduate courses in advanced soil mechanics, advanced foundation engineering, and stability of earth slopes. Bryson is a registered professional engineer in the states of Kentucky, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.
