Born and educated in Prague (Ph.D. 1963), Bažant moved to CEBTP Paris in 1966, to U. of Toronto in 1967, to UC Berkeley in 1969 and joined Northwestern University as Associate Professor in 1969. W.P. Murphy Professor (1990-) and simultaneously McCormick Institute Professor (2002-); Director, Center for Geomaterials (1981-87).
Inducted to NAS, NAE, Am. Acad. of Arts & Sci., Royal Soc. London, Roy Soc Canada; to academies of Italy (Lincei), Japan, Austria, Spain, Czech Rep., Greece (Athens), India, Canada, Lombardy and Turin; also Academia Europaea, Eur. Acad. of Sci. & Arts. Honorary Member: ASCE, ASME, ACI, RILEM and 3 European soc. 9 honorary doctorates: Prague, Karlsruhe, Colorado, Milan, Lyon, Vienna, Ohio State, U of Minnesota and UPPA France; Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art (2016); ASME Medal; Timoshenko, Nadai and Warner Medals of ASME; von Karman, Freudenthal, Newmark, Biot, Mindlin and Croes Medals and Lifetime Achievement Award of ASCE; SES Prager Medal; SEM Murray Medal; ASC Outst. Achievement Medal, RS Canada Paidoussi Medal, RILEM L’Hermite Medal; Exner Medal (Austria); Torroja Medal (Madrid); Solin and Bazant Sr. Medals (Prague), etc; SES President (1993), founding president of IA-FramCoS (1992), IA-ConCreep (2001). In 2012, CSM established in Prague ZP Bazant Prize for Engrg. Mechanics. In 2015, ASCE established ZP Bazant Medal for Failure and Damage Prevention. In Czechia, CSM awards Bazant Prize for Mechanics.
Published 9 books: Creep Structural Analysis; Scaling of Structural Strength, Inelastic Analysis, Fracture and Size Effect, Stability of Structures, Concrete at High Temperatures, Prob. Mechanics of Quasibrittle Structures; Concrete Creep and Hygrothermal Effects, Quasibrittle Fracture. In 2025: H-index 159, citations: 107,000 (on Google, incl. self-cit.), i10 index: 726. One of the original top 100 ISI Highly Cited Scientists in Engineering (www.ISIhighlycited.com). In 2019 Stanford University weighted citation survey published in PLOS, he was ranked no. 1 in civil engineering and no. 2 in engineering of all fields worldwide. Ditto Elsevier 2022.
He is Illinois Registered Structural Engineer. His 1959 mass-produced patent of safety ski binding is exhibited in New England Skiing Museum. (9/2025)
Professional position
- Distinguished McCormick Institute Professor, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University
Subject groups
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Engineering and Materials Science
Engineering, structural, Engineering, aeronautical, Engineering, civil, Computer engineering (including software), Materials science (incl materials engineering), Engineering, mechanical, Nuclear technology
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Earth and Environmental Sciences
Geophysics
