CEE Distinguished Professor Receives Four Prominent Honors

 

Soroosh Sorooshian, Ph.D., distinguished professor of civil and environmental engineering and Earth system science and director of the Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing at UC Irvine, was honored recently for his outstanding atmospheric research contributions, his continued dedication to engineering education, and his leadership in science and technology public policy.

 

The 2009 Walter Orr Roberts Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Sciences by the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the Orange County Engineering Council 2009 Distinguished Engineering Educator, as well as the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Orange County Chapter 2009 Distinguished Engineering Educator, were bestowed to Sorooshian for his outstanding accomplishments.

 

Sorooshian, recognized for his significant contributions to the understanding of atmospheric processes through multidisciplinary research, was named the 2009 Walter Orr Roberts Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Sciences by the AMS in January for "bridging the interdisciplinary gap between hydrology, meteorology and remote sensing."

 

He is also the recipient of the Distinguished Engineering Educator from the ASCE Orange County Chapter at their annual awards dinner on Feb. 19, for his commitment to excellence and substantial contributions to the advancement of the civil engineering profession.

 

The Orange County Engineering Council honored Sorooshian as the 2009 Distinguished Engineering Educator on Feb. 20 for his exceptional contributions to hydrologic processes and flood forecasting models, and for playing a significant role in water resources education and service to the profession by promoting interdisciplinary collaboration in understanding the Earth’s hydrologic system.

 

Additionally, Sorooshian was recently appointed to a three-year term on the advising council of the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) by UC president Mark Yudof. CCST is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1988 by a unanimous vote of the California Legislature, which offers expert advice and recommends solutions for science and technology-related policy issues to the state government. The CCST Council assists the CCST board of directors, and is an independent, 30-member assembly of corporate CEOs, academicians, scientists and scholars of the highest distinction that provide independent and objective findings on public policy issues involving science and technology that affect the State of California.

 

Sorooshian is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the International Academy of Astronautics, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society, and the International Water Resources Association. His research focus areas include surface hydrology; hydroclimate modeling; the application of remote sensing in hydrology; rainfall-runoff modeling; flood forecasting and control; identification and stochastic parameter estimation; watershed management, system simulation and analysis; operations research; and decision analysis.

 

He has also served on numerous advisory committees, including National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NOAA, Department of Energy, United States Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. He is a current member of the National Research Council’s Space Study Board and the Water Science and Technology Board.