Rate My Professor D.V. Griffiths

D.V. Griffiths holds the position of Honorary Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Australia, part of the College of Engineering, Science and Environment. Primarily based at the Colorado School of Mines, he serves as Professor and Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Griffiths obtained his BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK; MS in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley; PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester; and DSc in Numerical Methods in Geomechanics from the University of Manchester. A professionally licensed engineer in the state of Colorado (P.E.), British Chartered Engineer (C.Eng., FICE), and Board Certified Diplomate Geotechnical Engineer (D.GE), he is a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (London). He has held additional honorary appointments, including Honorary Professor at the University of Newcastle (2021-2026), 111 Professor at Chang'an University (2018-2022), and Honorary Fellowships at Magdalen College and St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford (2019-2028).

Griffiths specializes in finite element modeling and risk assessment in civil and geotechnical engineering, with key applications in slope stability, foundations, and seepage analysis. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Advanced Soil Mechanics, Risk Assessment in Geotechnical Engineering, Finite Element Methods, and Numerical Methods for Engineers. The author of over 400 peer-reviewed papers and three influential textbooks—"Programming the Finite Element Method" (5th edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2014, with I.M. Smith and L. Margetts), "Numerical Methods for Engineers" (2nd edition, Chapman & Hall/CRC Press, 2006, with I.M. Smith), and "Risk Assessment in Geotechnical Engineering" (John Wiley & Sons, 2008, with G.A. Fenton)—his work includes seminal publications such as "Probabilistic slope stability analysis by finite elements" (Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 2004, with G.A. Fenton). Recognized as one of the world’s most highly cited geotechnical engineering researchers with over 26,000 Google Scholar citations, Griffiths has earned major honors including the Terzaghi Lecturer (2026), GEOSNet Distinguished Award (2025), Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Australia (2023), Wilson Tang Lecturer (2022), T.H. Wu Distinguished Lecture (2021), H. Bolton Seed Medal and Lecture (Geo-Institute, ASCE, 2017), Inaugural ISSMGE Suzanne Lacasse Lecturer (2016), and Thomas C. Keefer Medal (Canadian Society of Civil Engineering, 2011). His professional service encompasses editorships as Editor of Computers and Geotechnics (2011-2021) and Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (2008-2012), Advisory Panel for Géotechnique (2013-2018), President of ASCE Colorado Section (2000-2001), and Board of Direction for ASCE Region 7 (2010-2013). He has delivered distinguished public lectures worldwide, including the Cross Canada Geotechnical Lecturer (Canadian Geotechnical Society, 2017).