George W. Housner was an eminent authority on earthquake engineering and National Medal of Science laureate. He was born on December 9, 1910 in Saginaw, Michigan, United States. Housner received his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan where he was influenced by Stephen Timoshenko.[citation needed] He earned his Masters' (1934) and Doctoral (1941) degrees from the California Institute of Technology where he had been a Professor of Earthquake Engineering from 1945 to 1981, and Professor Emeritus thereafter.

Professor Housner’s contributions to earthquake engineering have been recognized by his election to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. He has served the Academies in many capacities, including as chairman of committees on earthquake engineering research, the International Decade of Natural Hazard Reduction, and the investigation into the 1964 Alaskan earthquake. In 1978, he led a delegation of earthquake engineers to the People’s Republic of China as a follow-up to President Nixon’s historic trip there six years earlier. Professor Housner has been awarded the National Medal of Science, the National Academy of Engineering’s Founders Award, and the California Earthquake Safety Foundation’s Alquist Award, and he holds honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California. Housner died of natural causes November 10, 2008 in Pasadena, California at the age of 97.