Ron received in Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1972 and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to perform post-doctoral research at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center at Berkeley.

Ron has 45 years of management and technical expertise in earthquake and structural engineering.  He has served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC) and is a past Vice- President of The Masonry Society (TMS).  He was selected “Structural Engineer of the Year” by the Wiley Journal “Design of Tall and Other Buildings” in 2006 and is a Fellow of both the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) and SEAONC.

In 1982, Ron formed and became President of Dynamic Isolation Systems, Inc. (DIS). DIS specialized and pioneered the design, analysis and supply of base isolation systems.  At DIS, Ron had a national leadership role in developing and implementing base isolation technology and code procedures for buildings, hospitals and bridges.  He joined the consulting firm of Simpson Gumpertz and Heger Inc. (SGH) in June 2001 and is currently their in-house specialist in the application of innovative technology. 

Ron was the Co-Chair of the SEAONC Ratings Committee and is a Co-Founder of the US Resiliency Council. Ron was a member of the original ATC 58 project team that defined the scope of the performance based FEMA P-58 project that defines the earthquake performance of buildings in deaths, dollars and downtime. Ron was a co-leader of the EERI reconnaissance team for the 2011 Christchurch earthquake that once again demonstrated the disconnect between the public’s understanding of the performance of a code designed building and that given in the commentary to our building codes. Ron believes that the mission of the US Resiliency Council to be the administrative vehicle for implementing rating systems for buildings for earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes, floods and blasts and to educate the building industry and the general public about these risks is a mission that is very timely.