Burcin Becerik-Gerber is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern California. Dr. Becerik-Gerber's research focuses on the design, automation, control and visualization of user-centered responsive and adaptive built environments. To date, she has authored around 150 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers. Her work has received support worth over $8m individual and collaborative grants from a variety of agencies, including the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and Department of Transportation. In 2012, MIT's Technology Review has named her as one of the world's top young innovators under the age of 35. The same year, she has been appointed as the inaugural holder of the Stephen Schrank Early Career Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She has been selected to take part in the National Academy of Engineering's Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium in 2011 and Frontiers in Engineering Symposium in 2013 for her innovative research and educational approaches in civil engineering. She received the NSF CAREER Award in 2014, Viterbi Junior Research Award in 2016, Mellon Mentoring Award in 2017 and CETI (Celebration of Engineering & Technology) Award in 2018. She is one of the ten Rutherford Visiting Fellows of Alan Turing Institute, U.K. She serves as an Associate Editor for ASCE's Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering since 2011.
Dr. Becerik-Gerber holds degrees in both Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture. She graduated from Istanbul Technical University with a Bachelor of Architecture (1999) and an M.S. in Architecture (2001). She attended the University of California at Berkeley, where she received an M.S. in Engineering degree (2002) with a special focus on Construction Engineering and Management. She earned her Doctor of Design degree (2006) from Harvard University. Her doctoral work at Harvard University focused on online collaboration and project management. Upon completing her doctoral degree, she worked as a consultant and taught in the area. Her responsibilities included development of corporate-wide program management information systems for large and complex construction projects. In 2008, she joined the Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
