Dr. Marcelo Sanchez is a Professor and Fred J. Benson Chair in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University. Dr. Sanchez received his first degree in Civil Engineering from the Universidad Nacional de San Juan (Argentina). His Master and Ph.D. (2004) degrees are from the Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC, Barcelona, Spain).

His expertise lies in the area of advanced geomechanics, considering problems involving thermal, hydraulic, mechanical and geo-chemical (THMG) couplings. His research interests also cover the study of the behavior of frozen soils, expansive clays and unsaturated soils. The main areas of applications are: ‘Energy Geotechnics’, ‘Geo-environmental Engineering’, and ‘Transportation Geotechnics’. He is the co-author of more than 150 peer reviewed papers. Dr. Sanchez has been regularly invited to deliver keynotes and theme lectures at national and international conferences. To highlight is the ‘State of the Art Lecture on Energy Geotechnics’ that he co-delivered in 2002 in Sydney during the International Conference on Soils Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering He has been a member of ‘International Advisory/Scientific Committees’ for 27 international conferences and the chairman of 37 technical and panel sessions. He is acting as an Associated Editor for seven international journals. Among other awards, in 2012 he received, along with his co-authors, the “George Stephenson Medal” from the Institution of Civil Engineers in the United Kingdom. He served (2013 - 2022) as the Chairman of the ISSMGE (Int. Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Eng.) Technical Committee TC308 on “Energy Geotechnics”. He is the Chair of the ISSMGE Technical Oversight Committee (2022 – present).