Prof. Federico Gutiérrez-Solana received his professional degree in civil engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM, in 1975, and his Ph.D. degree (Hons.) in 1981. After working in several private companies as an Engineer Designer, in 1978 he joined the School of Civil Engineering of Madrid as an Associate Professor. From 1981 to 1983, he was a Fulbright Scholar and an Associate Researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. In 1983, he returned to Spain as an Assistant Professor hired by the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He was appointed as an Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering Metallurgy and a Full Professor at the University of Cantabria, in 1984 and 1989, respectively. From 1987 to 1995, he was the Director of the Civil Engineering School, UC, where he launched and led the LADICIM research center. He was a Rector of the University of Cantabria from 2002 to 2012, and the President of the Spanish Rectors Conference from 2009 to 2011. He has been a Visiting Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Tufts University, Boston, and Paris-XI University, Orsay, giving numerous lectures at European and American universities. He also received the Golden Medal of the Spanish Group on Fracture. He also received the Merit Recognition and the Honor Medal from the Spanish Civil Engineering Society, in 2005 and 2010, respectively.