Awards
The American Institute of Hydrology (AIH) recognizes individuals for outstanding accomplishments in the fields of groundwater, surface water, water quality, and institute development. These awards are named after prominent hydrologists, who have made numerous lasting contributions to the hydrologic sciences. AIH Awards include:
The Charles Vernon (C.V.) Theis Award was established in 1986 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions in groundwater hydrology. Charles V. Theis graduated with a PhD from the University of Cincinnati in June 1929 and made numerous contributions to the field of groundwater science throughout his life. An excellent biography of C.V. Theis’ life and contribution to groundwater science is found online at http://www.olemiss.edu/sciencenet/saltnet/theisbio.html.
The Ray K. Linsley Award was established in 1986 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions in surface water hydrology. Dr. Linsley made numerous contributions to surface water hydrology and was the principal author of the textbook, Applied Hydrology, published by McGraw-Hill in 1949. He directed the PhD dissertations of 35 students at Stanford University covering research on mechanics of overland flow, rainfall synthesis, stochastic hydrology, and modeling of the hydrologic cycle. These efforts led to the development of the Stanford Watershed Model, a state-of-the-art tool of hydrologists worldwide. Alexander Zaporozec and Robert L. Smith have also provided tributes to Dr. Linsley.
The AIH Wetzel award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the field of water quality. This award was dedicated in 2006 to the family of the late Robert G. Wetzel. Dr. Wetzel was a true leader in the field of freshwater science. His thoughts and brilliant synthesis of all aspects of lakes and streams are included in more than 30 books and 400+ publications including the definitive college text book of this field, Limnology.
The AIH Founders Award was established in 1990 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding, long-term, dedicated service to the Institute. It was established to honor the AIH founders Sandor Csallany, Alex Zaporozec, and Roman Kanivetsky. The award is given at the discretion of the AIH Executive Board to a member in good standing.
History of the American Institute of Hydrology by Csallany, Zaporozec, and Kanivetsky.
Nomination Criteria
The criteria for selecting an individual for an award includes, but is not limited to,
- A record of performance showing detailed scientific inquiries into water-related issues that are objective, credible, and useful — such as the integration of physical properties and chemical and biological processes.
- The record should show significant contribution to understanding how the hydrologic cycle affects humankind and how humankind affects the hydrologic cycle.
- The record should show the ability of hydrology professionals with multiple perspectives of water as a resource. Careful analyses and critical research are central, but guidance for making the value judgments that are necessary to choose among competing demands for limited resources is also important. Water users, hydrologists, watershed scientists, engineers, and resource managers must often make value judgments to decide among possible management actions.
- Award winners should be distinguished for their continued efforts to extend multidisciplinary approaches in the solutions of water problems.
Nomination Process
Each year, the AIH Executive Board will notify its members about the deadline for submitting nominations.
The nomination packet for each award should contain the following:
- A formal nomination letter by the nominator, outlining the education, career, and a record of performance detailing accomplishments and noteworthy impact achieved by the potential candidate.
- A current resume of the nominee.
- A minimum of two and maximum of four supporting letters with a limit of three pages each.
The supporting letter writers should state briefly how they know the nominee and describe why the nominee is deserving of the award. Please submit your nomination to admin@aihydrology.org. Award winners will be notified and the awards will be presented at an upcoming conference to be determined later in the year.
Award Vetting Process and Rules
- An ad-hoc awards committee will be established each year to evaluate the nominations and make a recommendation to the Executive Board.
- Upon review, deliberation and decision of the ad-hoc committee, at most a single candidate is selected for each award, and forwarded to the Executive Board for discussion and approval.
- Should the Executive Board approve the nomination, the President is responsible for contacting the selected person and informing them of the award. The President shall convey the time and venue for the award ceremony.
- The President cannot serve on this ad-hoc committee and is ineligible for any of the awards.
| Year | Charles V. Theis Award | Ray K. Linsley Award | AIH Founders Award | Robert G. Wetzel Award | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Roger J.M. DeWiest Aalst, Belgium | ||||||||
| 1988 | Isaac J. Winograd Reston, Virginia | Peter O. Wolf London, England | |||||||
| 1989 | Thomas A. Prickett Urbana, Illinois | Luna B. Leopold Berkeley, California | |||||||
| 1990 | Shlomo P. Neuman Tucson, Arizona | Robert L. Smith Lawrence, Kansas | |||||||
| 1991 | Herbert E. Skibitzke Tempe, Arizona | David R. Dawdy San Francisco, California | Ralph C. Heath Raleigh, North Carolina | ||||||
| 1992 | R. Allen Freeze White Rock, Canada | Norman H. Crawford Redwood City, California | |||||||
| 1993 | Philip Cohen Reston, Virginia | Wilfried H. Brutsaert Ithaca, New York | |||||||
| 1994 | James W. Mercer Sterling, Virginia | Joseph B. Franzini Palo Alto, California | L. Douglas James Arlington, Virginia | ||||||
| 1995 | A. Ivan Johnson Arvada, Colorado | Vit Klemes Victoria, Canada | John E. Moore Denver, Colorado | ||||||
| 1996 | John M. Sharp, Jr. Austin, Texas | Harold A. Thomas Cape Code, Massachusetts | Joseph S. Rosenshein Virginia Beach, Virginia | ||||||
| 1997 | William Back Reston, Virginia | L. Douglas James Arlington, Virginia | Kenneth N. Brooks St. Paul, Minnesota | ||||||
| 1998 | Leonard F. Konikow Reston, Virginia | James C.I. Dooge Ireland | John M. Sharp, Jr. Austin, Texas | ||||||
| 1999 | David Keith Todd San Francisco, California | Peter S. Eagleson Cambridge, Massachusetts | Brook A. Kraeger Los Gatos, California | ||||||
| 2000 | Mary P. Anderson Madison, Wisconsin | David Woolhiser Ft. Collins, Colorado | Darryll T. Pederson Lincoln, Nebraska | ||||||
| 2001 | Richard R. Parizek University Park, Pennsylvania | John Cassidy San Francisco, California | Verne H. Scott Boulder, Colorado | ||||||
| 2002 | Lorne G. Everett Santa Barbara, California | David H. Pilgrim South Wales, Australia | Antonius Laenen Portland, Oregon | ||||||
| 2003 | M. Doug Bedinger Carlsborg, Washington | Stephen J. Burges Seattle, Washington | Gerald E. Seaburn Marietta, Georgia | ||||||
| 2004 | J. Toth Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | C. T. Tom Haan Stillwater, Oklahoma | Helen Klose Minneapolis, Minnesota | ||||||
| 2006 | Fred Molz Clemson, South Carolina | Vijay P. Singh Baton Rouge, Louisiana | |||||||
| 2007 | Phillip B. Bedient Houston, Texas | Jack Delleur West Lafayette, Indiana | Robert H. Meade Reston, Virginia | ||||||
| 2008 | Emitt Witt Rolla, Missouri | ||||||||
| 2009 | Vijay P. Singh Baton Rouge, Louisiana | ||||||||
| 2010 | Peter E. Black Syracuse, New York | ||||||||
| 2011 | Mustafa M. Aral Atlanta, Georgia | ||||||||
| 2012 | David R. Maidment Austin, Texas | ||||||||
| 2017 | Lynn Gelhar | Kenneth W. Potter Madison, Wisconsin | David T. Williams Fort Collins, Colorado | Jimmy Kao Kaohsiung, Taiwan | |||||
| 2018 | Dr. Thomas Dunne, Santa Barbara, California | John R. Gray, Herndon, Virginia | |||||||
| 2019 | Bridget R. Scanlon, University of Texas | Christopher B. Burke (CBBEL) | Rao S. Govindaraju (Purdue University) | Susan Hubbard (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) | |||||
| 2020 | Dr. David Ford, HDR | Greg Bevenger | Dr. Mohamed Hantush, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | ||||||
| 2021 | Vicki Kretsinger Grabert, PH | Dr. Phil Bedient | Dr. Ying Ouyang, PH | ||||||
| 2022 | Todd Halihan, PhD | Bruce Wilson, PhD | Vijay P. Singh, PhD, PH | ||||||
| 2023 | Ken Howard, PhD | Jeff McDonnell, PhD | John Nieber, PhD | ||||||
| 2024 | Rao Govindaraju, PhD | Deborah H. Lee, SES, PH, PE, BC.WRE, F.ASCE, ENV SP |