In 1979, Dr. Emir Macari earned a bachelor’s degree at Virginia Tech and in 1982, a master’s degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder, both in civil engineering, specializing in geomechanics. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1989 where he worked on a NASA sponsored project dealing with the mechanical behavior of granular materials at low effective stress states and under reduced gravity environments. He studied under the tutelage of his close friend and mentor, Dr. Stein Sture and has attempted to follow the steps of his role model and maternal grandfather, the late Philip Paul Pasqualino, Sr.
Currently, Dr. Macari is the dean of Engineering and Computer Science at the California State University, Sacramento. Prior to this, he was the dean of Science and Technology at the University of Texas at Brownsville. From 2001-02, he worked at the National Science Foundation as program director of the Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology. Dr. Macari was the chairman and Bingham C. Stewart Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU) from 1999 to 2001. In 2000, Dr. Macari and two other colleagues from LSU formed and launched the “LSU Hurricane Center” not knowing what a significant impact this organization would have several years later on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which involved perhaps the most devastating failure of engineer-ing this country has ever seen.
From 1993 to 1999, Dr. Macari was an associate professor of Geosystems Engineering at Georgia Tech where he also held a joint appointment with its School of Public Policy. In addition, from 1990 to 1993, he was a professor and director of the Civil Infrastructure Research Center at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez.
He has authored and co-authored more than 80 technical papers, developed scores of new courses, been principal or co-principal on numerous grants and contracts, was an invited presenter at a number of U.S. and international conferences, has contributed to peer-review journals, and provided guidance to many doctoral candidates.
In 1992, Dr. Macari was awarded the Presidential Faculty Fellowship by President George Bush. In 1994, he contributed to the drafting of President Clinton’s science policy document, “Science in the National Interest.” In the document, Dr. Macari is quoted: “In conjunction with developing international partnerships the United States must lead the way in training engineers and scientists to meet the challenges of economic development in a global marketplace. We must begin to produce a new breed of engineers and scientists with a broadened view of technology and service to society.” He is the recipient of numerous national and international honors for his contributions to science and engineering education and research, including being elected to the National Academy of Engineering of Mexico in 2003 and Mexican Academy of Science in 2006.
Other awards include: the Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow in 2001; Georgia Tech Engineering’s Best Journal Paper Award in 1998; Distinguished Professor Award from 1990-93 and the EPSCoR Scholarly Productivity Award in 1992, both from the University of Puerto Rico; NASA/ASEE Research Fellow, Marshall Space Flight Center, 1990 and 1991; and NASA Educational Ph.D. Dissertation Fellowship, 1987-1989.
Dr. Macari has been on the board of advisors of the Society for the Advancement of Latinos and Native Americans in Science; member, Strategic Planning Committee and the International Committee; member, board of advisors of the Center for Science, Policy and Outcomes; advisor to the Center for Hemispheric Cooperation in Science and Engineering; board of advisors of Celebra La Ciencia; associate editor of the International Journal on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure; editorial board of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (ASCE-GeoInstitute); and member of the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Properties Committee. He is also a member of the task force charged with advising President Bush regarding the under-representation of Hispanics in the federal workforce.
In addition, Dr. Macari is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences; Sigma Xi; the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the American Society of Engineering Education; the American Society of Civil Engineers; the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering; the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers; the Mexican-American Engineering Society; Chi Epsilon; and the American Society for Testing and Materials, where he also served on the Board of Directors.
Currently, Dr. Macari sits on the advisory board of the Sacramento Area Regional Technology Alliance; the McClelland Technology Incubator; and the California Engineering Education Council, which was formed last year at the request of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to address the great need for engineers in the state of California.
Dr. Macari is married to Jill Kathleen (Gregg) since August 1989, a mathematics professor he met at the University of Colorado at Boulder. They have three wonderful daughters, Anna Christina (16), Elizabeth (14), and Gabriella (11) and they all reside in Sacramento, California.