Citation on the award of Life Membership, April 2026
Professor Misko Cubrinovski is conferred Life Membership of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering in recognition of his significant contributions to earthquake engineering.
Misko is a Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and a highly respected academic in his field. He is a nationally recognised expert in geotechnical earthquake engineering and is particularly renowned internationally for his research and guidance on liquefaction and its effects on the built environment. He has been a member of the Society for over 20 years and was recognised as a Fellow in 2021.
The devastation of the 1963 Skopje earthquake (magnitude 6.1), which caused over 1,000 fatalities in his hometown, inspired Misko to pursue a career in earthquake engineering. He completed a Bachelor of Science at the University of Cyril and Methodius in 1982 and a Master of Science in 1989 at the Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology in Skopje, Macedonia, established following the earthquake. He went on to complete a PhD at the University of Tokyo under Professor Kenji Ishihara, an early authority on liquefaction, which shaped his enduring interest in earthquake‑induced liquefaction and its effects. He spent a further 15 years in Japan undertaking research and developing guidance on liquefaction.
Misko moved to Christchurch, New Zealand in 2005 and joined the University of Canterbury. He had established himself as a researcher and lecturer when the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence struck, causing widespread liquefaction, damage to buildings, and loss of life. Since then, he has been heavily involved in researching the extensive liquefaction and its impacts on buildings and underground services. Building on these observations, he has refined methods for assessing liquefaction in layered soils and served on advisory groups providing guidance on reconstruction. Misko led the development of the New Zealand Geotechnical Society | MBIE Modules for geotechnical earthquake engineering and was a major contributor to the geotechnical requirements incorporated into the recently released TS 1170.5. He is currently involved in the Seismic Risk Working Group developing guidance for the next generation of seismic design.
Misko has received numerous prestigious awards, including Outstanding Paper Awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (2014), the ASCE Norman Medal (2016), the New Zealand Geotechnical Society Geomechanics Lecture Award (2018), the JW Ridley Geomechanics Paper Award (2018), the ASCE Ralph B. Peck Award (2019), the Ishihara Lecture Award from the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (2021), the University of Canterbury Research Medal (2022), and the Otto Glogau Award from the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering (2023).
He was elected a Fellow of the University of Tokyo in recognition of his distinguished contributions to research and education at the School of Engineering. He has served on the editorial boards of the Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering and Earthquake Spectra, and has published over 225 papers in journals and conference proceedings.
Over a career spanning more than 40 years, Misko has made an outstanding contribution to earthquake engineering through pioneering research on liquefaction, the development of practical guidance for engineers, and his commitment to educating and mentoring young geotechnical engineers.
The Society is delighted to recognise Misko Cubrinovski’s outstanding contribution through the award of Life Membership.
