Dr. Braja Das is dean emeritus of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at California State University, Sacramento. He received his M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Iowa and his Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He is the author of several geotechnical engineering texts and reference books as well as more than 300 technical papers in the area of geotechnical engineering. His primary areas of research include shallow foundations, earth anchors and geosynthetics. Dr. Das is a fellow and life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, life member of the American Society for Engineering Education and an emeritus member of the Stabilization of Geomaterials and Recycled Materials of the Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council. He has received numerous awards for teaching excellence, including the AMOCO Foundation Award, the AT&T Award for Teaching Excellence from the American Society for Engineering Education, the Ralph Teetor Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers and the Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching Excellence from the University of Texas at El Paso.