SNU Civil Engineering Graduate Dr. Sang-Ri Yi Appointed Assistant Professor at Rice University
- Research focuses on probabilistic analysis for infrastructure resilience and disaster impact assessment
- “Committed to advancing core technologies for mitigating natural disaster risks”


▲ Dr. Sang-Ri Yi, a graduate of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Seoul National University, has been appointed Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University (U.S.).

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that Dr. Sang-Ri Yi, a graduate of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University, a prestigious private institution in the United States.

Dr. Yi completed her undergraduate studies in Civil and Urban Engineering at Hongik University and pursued a combined M.S.-Ph.D. program at Seoul National University. Under the supervision of Professor Junho Song, she developed a “Gaussian Mixture Model-Based Stochastic Equivalent Linearization Technique” and earned her doctoral degree in February 2020.

Following graduation, Dr. Yi served as a postdoctoral researcher at the Simulation Center for Natural Hazards Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, where he led the development of a probabilistic uncertainty analysis module for natural hazard impact assessment software. She joined Rice University in July 2025.

Throughout her academic career, Dr. Yi has specialized in probabilistic analysis methods that serve as the foundation for advanced disaster risk reduction systems. her research includes stochastic modeling for regional-scale disaster analysis and resilience assessment, surrogate modeling techniques, irregular vibration analysis, and Bayesian inference.

Her work has been published in leading international journals such as Structural Safety, ASCE Journal of Engineering Mechanics, and Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics.

Reflecting on her appointment, Dr. Yi stated, “It is deeply meaningful to have the opportunity to pass on the knowledge I received from my professors at SNU to the next generation of engineers and researchers.”

She added, “Going forward, I will continue to pursue technologies that balance theoretical rigor, computational efficiency, and real-world applicability in the context of natural disaster response. I hope ther research can meaningfully reduce human and economic losses and contribute to building a more disaster-resilient society.”


[Reference Links]
- Faculty Profile at Rice University: https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/sang-ri-yi
- Lab Website: https://uncertainty.blogs.rice.edu/

[Contact Information]
Prof. Junho Song, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University / +82-2-880-8397 / junhosong@snu.ac.kr