Thaleia Travasarou earned her Diploma (1997) in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Dr. Travasarou earned both her M.S. (2000) and Ph.D. (2003) degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (focus on geotechnical earthquake engineering). Presently serving as the Regional Technical Director of Land Site Characterization at Fugro, she has played an integral role holding positions such as Principal Engineer, Earthquake Group Manager, and GeoConsulting Service Line Manager.
Dr. Travasarou’s leadership at Fugro has been instrumental in establishing the prominence of the company's geotechnical earthquake engineering group, focusing on seismic risk management for diverse projects. Driven by her expertise, she has overseen pivotal ventures in geotechnical and earthquake engineering, contributing significantly to major infrastructure projects across the U.S. and globally.
Dr. Travasarou's contributions encompass pioneering research in seismic hazard assessments, site characterization, and soil-structure interaction analyses, profoundly impacting industry practices. Her influential work includes advanced numerical analyses and assessment procedures for seismic slope displacements, setting standards adopted by practitioners, and influencing seismic hazard evaluations and retaining wall designs.
Beyond her corporate endeavors, Dr. Travasarou has published numerous impactful papers and presentations, notably receiving the ASCE Arthur M. Wellington Prize in 2013 for her paper on "Centrifuge Modeling of Seismically-Induced Uplift for the BART Transbay Tube." She contributes to graduate-level courses in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Advanced Foundations through lectures, seminars, and mentoring at Berkeley CEE, imparting knowledge and guidance to future professionals.