JoAnn Browning, Ph.D.

Dean of Engineering and David & Jennifer Spencer Distinguished Chair, UTSA

Professor of Civil Engineering, UTSA

A leader in structural engineering and concrete research, Dr. JoAnn Browning was named Dean and David and Jennifer Spencer distinguished chair of the UTSA College of Engineering in August 2014.

Career path

Prior to her current position, Dr. Browning was a faculty member at the University of Kansas (KU) for 16 years, and served two years as Associate Dean of Administration.

While at University of Kansas, she was twice awarded the Miller Award for Distinguished Professional Service (2004 and 2011) and she was the 2012 recipient of the Henry E. Gould Award for Distinguished Service to Undergraduate Education. In 2015, she was named a Purdue Distinguished Woman Scholar.

Dr. Browning has been active in the engineering community, locally as President of the Kansas Chapter of the American Concrete Institute (ACI), and nationally with ACI, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE), and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

She has served on the Board of Directors of CUREE and ACI (beginning in 2015) and on the ACI 318 Building Code Committee.

Research interests

Her own research interests include structural engineering, earthquake engineering, engineering materials, and reinforced concrete design and analysis. She is actively involved in research to improve the durability of concrete bridge decks through studies of corrosion protection systems and low-cracking high-performance bridge decks.

She is also active in research to improve the design and performance of concrete buildings and bridges subjected to earthquake motion. She received the American Concrete Institute’s Young Member Award for Professional Achievement in 2008 and was named an ACI Fellow in 2009.

Education

• Ph.D., Purdue University, 1998
• MSCE, University of Kentucky, 1995
• BSCE, University of Kentucky, 1994