Dr. Giroud is an independent consultant operating under “JP GIROUD, INC.” since January 2001.

Civil engineer (Ecole Centrale Paris), Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering (University of Grenoble).

Former professor of geotechnical engineering (Universities of Grenoble and Paris, French National School for Civil Servants in Civil Engineering) (1963-1978).

Director of the Geotextiles and Geomembranes Group of Woodward Consultants (1978-1983).

Co-founder, former Chairman of the Board, and Chairman Emeritus of GeoSyntec Consultants, a consulting engineering firm that grew in seventeen years (1983-2001) from two to more than three hundred employees, including more than 30 PhDs.

Author of over 430 publications.

Past President of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS).

Past Chairman (two terms) of the Technical Committee on Geosynthetics of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE).

Co-founder and Chairman of the Editorial Board of the two main technical journals in the field of geosynthetics engineering, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (1984-1994) and Geosynthetics International (1994-present).

More than 47 years of experience on geosynthetics. Developed many methods for the design of applications of geosynthetics (leakage evaluation, filter criteria, liner system design, slope stability, unpaved roads, etc.). Originated a number of geosynthetics applications: first nonwoven geotextile filter (1970), first geotextile in a dam (1970), first use of nonwoven geotextile as cushion for geomembrane (1971), first double liner with two geomembranes (1974), first entirely geosynthetic double liner system with two geomembranes and a geonet leakage detection system (1981). Involved in the design or performance analysis of hundreds of structures incorporating geosynthetics.

Keynote lecturer at the opening session of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th International Conferences on Geosynthetics (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, and 2006).

I977: coined the terms “geotextile” and “geomembrane”, which led to the geo-terminology used in the geosynthetics discipline.

1982: chairman of the second International Conference on Geotextiles.

1984: chairman of the International Conference on Geomembranes.

1994: The highest level of recognition in the field of geosynthetics engineering was bestowed upon Dr. Giroud when the Council of the IGS decided that the opening lecture of each International Conferences on Geosynthetics will be called The Giroud Lecture.

1994: IGS Award, 1994, for work on liner leakage.

2002: Honorary Member of the IGS with the citation “Dr. Giroud is truly the father of the IGS and the geosynthetics discipline”.

2004: IGS Award, 2004, for work on filters.

2005: delivered the Vienna Terzaghi Lecture.

2005: status of “hero” of the Geo-Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

2005-2006: delivered the Mercer Lectures, a lecture series endorsed jointly by the IGS and the ISSMGE.

2007: Doctor Honoris Causa of the Technical University of Bucharest (Romania).

2008: delivered the ASCE Terzaghi Lecture.

2009: elected to the US National Academy of Engineering.

2010: appointed Chevalier in the Order of the Légion d’Honneur.

2013 : Felix Centraliens award, Paris, France.

2014: IGS Service Award for the founding of the two official journals of the IGS.

2016: delivered the Victor de Mello lecture of the ISSMGE.