Mohammed (Mo) Gabr is Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering and Construction at North Carolina State University specializing in Geotechnical/Geoenvironmental Engineering. His recent research interests include assessment and development of sustainable and Innovative soil improvement techniques including the use of geosynthetics and chemical and biological amendments approaches; development of performance limit states and damage assessment of earth structures under extreme storms, and resilient foundation systems supporting marine renewable energy infrastructures.

Dr. Gabr earned his Ph.D. at North Carolina State University in December 1987. He was then awarded a postdoctoral fellowship by the Royal Norwegian Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and spent 1988 at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI). Upon returning to the US, he worked as a Project Engineer for Woodward-Clyde Consultants until August 1991; at that time, he joined West Virginia University (WVU). He has been Assistant and then Associate Professor (1995) at West Virginia University from 8/91 to 12/97 and Associate then Full Professor at North Carolina State University from 1/98 to present. Dr. Gabr spent the summers of 1992 and 1993 as a Research Faculty at the Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He spent the Fall 2012 semester at the Imperial College, London, as a Visiting Professorial Academic. Dr. Gabr served as the Acting Director of the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program (NCROEP) from July 2015-July 2019. The program is administrated through the University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute (CSI). In such capacity, he worked with colleagues from the CSI and several Universities across the state of North Carolina to plan and advance research and technology supporting the generation of renewable ocean energy in cost-competitive and environmentally benign manner. Over 30 years of his academic career so far, Dr. Gabr has served as chair, co-chair, and advisor of 45 Ph.D. (with five current students yet to earn their degree) and 70 Masters students. Supported by more than $14 million in grants and contracts, Gabr continues to work with his students and colleagues on research areas that transcend Geotechnical, Environmental, Structural, and Coastal Engineering.

Dr. Gabr received the Edmund Friedman Professional Recognition award by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He was selected as the 1993 West Virginia Young Engineer of the Year by ASCE. He received the 1993-94 Outstanding College Researcher award and 1995-96 Outstanding College Teacher award from the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources (CEMR) at WVU. He received the 1994-95 J.C. Burnichal Teaching award and the 1994-95 Outstanding Advisor award from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at WVU. He was selected as a North Carolina State University Outstanding Teacher, received an Alumni Outstanding Teacher award, and was elected to the academy of Outstanding Teachers at the University in 2008. He was named “Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor” in 2009 and is named as “Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Professor” in 2019; these titles are retained while appointed as a member of the NC State faculty. He is the College of Engineering Recipient of the 2011 Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Gabr also received the 2015 Outstanding Teaching Award from the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE), Southeast Section. He received The Edge Award for Outstanding Effort in Advancing Marine Energy from the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program in 2025.

Dr. Gabr is the former Chair of the Transportation Research Board of the national academies committee on Physicochemical Properties of Soils (1997-2003), and the ASCE Geo-Institute national committee on Geosynthetics (2000-2008.) Dr. Gabr served as an editorial board member (EBM) of the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (2001-2006) and as Editor of the Environmental Geotechnics Section of Geotechnical News (1998-2004). He served as an EBM of ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal (1999-2015) and as Editor of the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (2007-2015). He served as the Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (2015-2019) and currently serves as Editor-at-Large for the journal. Dr. Gabr was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers in 2000 and was inducted as a Diplomate of the Geo-Institute Academy of Geo-Professionals in 2015te and is Board-Certified Geotechnical Engineer (BCGE) by the Academy. He is a registered professional engineer in five States.

Teaching

Dr. Gabr considers teaching to be his passion. He endeavors to create a comfortable learning environment, clearly define learning objectives and expectations, and focus on teaching basics and innovations for lifelong learning. He regularly teaches CE 342, CE 435, CE 443, CE 549, CE 584, CE 741, and CE 747. He pursues cutting-edge innovative concepts in response to emerging challenges in Civil Engineering education. To this end, he has secured funding with his colleagues from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for two projects on development of innovative teaching approaches. The first project aimed at adaptation of information technology for incorporation of internet-enabled Civil Engineering laboratory experiments in geotechnical courses. The second aims at incorporating sensors and instrumentation for monitoring engineering infrastructure in the civil engineering undergraduate curriculum. Dr. Gabr has been teaching since 1991 and has served on several committees and professional organizations where achieving excellence in education is a primary focus.