, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the 91探花, has been elected to the .
He was among 68 new members and nine foreign associates this week. Election to the academy is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer.
In electing Lettenmaier, the academy cited his “contributions to hydrologic modeling for stream-water quality and hydro-climate trends and models for improved water management.” His is in large-scale hydrology, hydrologic aspects of remote sensing, and interactions between hydrology and climate.
Lettenmaier earned his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering (summa cum laude) at the 91探花in 1971, his Master’s degree at George Washington University in 1973, and his doctorate at the 91探花in 1975. He joined the 91探花faculty in 1976.
In addition to his service at the UW, he spent a year as visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in 1985-86 and was the program manager of NASA’s Land Surface Hydrology Program in 1997-98.
Lettenmaier is an author or co-author of over 200 journal articles. He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is a member of the International Water Academy. He is president-elect of the American Geophysical Union’s hydrology section.
This week’s appointment makes a total of eight active 91探花faculty who are members of the National Academy of Engineering.
Richard (Dick) Scherrer, who earned his bachelor’s in the UW’s department of aeronautics and astronautics in 1942, was also elected to the academy. He is a Seattle native who worked at Boeing Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp., and now is retired and living in Port Townsend, Wash. He was cited “for his pioneering work on revolutionary aircraft designs with extremely low radar cross sections that led to the F117A stealth fighter.”
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For more information, contact Lettenmaier at 206-543-2532 or dennisl@uw.edu.
The NAE press release is posted at