FrontMatter -- Preface -- Acknowledgment of Reviewers -- Contents -- Figures, Tables, and Sidebars -- Acronyms -- Executive Summary -- 1 Preventing Disasters: The Grand Challenge for Earthquake Engineering Research -- 2 Issues in Earthquake Engineering Research -- 3 NEES and Grand Challenge Research -- 4 Revolutionizing Earthquake Engineering Research Through Information Technology -- 5 Achieving the Grand Challenge: A Research Plan for NEES -- 6 Recommendations for Meeting the Grand Challenge -- Appendixes -- A The George E. Brown, Jr., Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation -- B Biographies of Committee Members -- C Time Line of Precipitating Events, Discoveries, and Improvements in Earthquake Engineering, 1811-2004 -- D Agendas for the Committee's Public Meetings -- E The Stakeholder Forum.