Jean-Louis Briaud — manager of the Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Program at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute and Buchanan Chair Professor at Texas A&M University — continued his international travel this fall with three lectures at St. Petersburg, Russia, at the G. V. Plekhanov State Mining Institute and Technical University, also known as The Mining University of Russia, one of the oldest mining schools in Europe. The institute was established in 1773.
One lecture, Anchored Walls: Full Scale Experiment and Design, was given at the Vladimir Ulitsky Symposium. Briaud gave a second lecture, Unsaturated Soil Behavior and Applications, to the fourth year Mining University of Russia students and a third, The Pressuremeter and Foundation Engineering, to the same class.
While at the university, Briaud met at length with University President Rector Litvinenko. At the Mining University of Russia, professors teach three to four courses per semester, more than most U.S. professors.
“The Mining University is known worldwide for its emphasis on mining research,” Briaud says. “So it was a great honor to continue my relationship with the students and the university president.”