Ahmad Itani

Foundation Professor & Associate Vice President for Research

University of Nevada, Reno Innevation Center

Put yourself in other people’s shoes and see why they do what they do. You’ll learn a lot from that.

About Ahmad

Growing up in Lebanon, there were really only two educational paths: medicine and engineering—I chose engineering because I couldn’t handle the sight of blood.
I came to the U.S. in 1985 when I was 22 years old to escape Lebanon’s civil war and further my education.
I received my master’s degree and Ph.D. in civil engineering at the University of Michigan.
When I finished my Ph.D., I found a job in California at the state’s earthquake office—I moved across the country by myself to find a place to live before flying back to Michigan to bring my family.
After three years in California, I relocated to the earthquake engineering group at University of Nevada, Reno.
My expertise as a researcher is in the seismic behavior of steel bridges and structures.
I thought I would work at the University of Nevada, Reno, for a few years and then move on, but I ended up staying and moving up through the ranks over the years.
After holding the position of department chair, I now work as the associate vice president for research where my main goal is to help our researchers achieve their full potential.