Professor Deierlein is a faculty member at Stanford University where he specializes in the design and behavior of steel and composite steel-concrete structures, nonlinear structural analysis, and performance-based design of structures for earthquakes, fire, and other extreme loads. Deierlein is the Director of the John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center at Stanford and is Deputy Director of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center.

Professor Deierlein holds a doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin, a masters degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and a bachelors degree from Cornell University. He is a registered professional engineer, a member of the Board of Directors of the Applied Technology Council, and active in national technical committees involved with developing building codes and standards.