Universities Council on Water Resources
Neil S. Grigg
UCOWR is proud to announce that the 1998 Warren A. Hall Award recipient is Dr. Neil S. Grigg of the Colorado State University. Dr. Grigg received his Medal at the 1998 UCOWR Annual Meeting in Hood River, Oregon, on August 6. Robert Ward, Director of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, made the Medal presentation.
Dr. Grigg has been a Professor of Civil Engineering at Colorado State University since 1982 and served as Department Head of Civil Engineering since 1991. He has published five books, three of which are textbooks in the general field of public works and water resources infrastructure. He has also published over 300 refereed papers and journal articles, book chapters, reports, and conference papers on the subjects of water resources engineering and management. He developed several graduate courses related to public works management including: Infrastructure and Engineering Management, Urban Systems Engineering, Urban Water Management, and Water Resources Planning.
Since 1992, Dr. Grigg has acted as a major advisor for 14 M.S. and 12 Ph.D. students, many of whom specialized in public works management and subsequently assumed permanent positions with public works organizations. Some foreign graduate students have taken management positions with public works agencies in their home countries, where they work to address infrastructure problems that threaten the public health and welfare of millions of poor citizens.
Dr. Grigg provided leadership to the water community of Colorado State University for many years. His most recent contribution in this arena has been the creation of The Water Center at Colorado State University, an organization which fosters cooperation among three colleges and six departments in an effort to integrate cross-discipline working in the general field of water resources. He also served as Director of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute from 1988-1991.
From 1979-1982, Dr. Grigg was Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources, State of North Carolina, where he was responsible for the state agencies of Environmental Management, Water Resources, Marine Fisheries, Forest Resources, Soil and Water Conservation, Parks and Recreation, and Coastal Resources. During this time, he reorganized the state water resources program and led an effort to create a Division of Water Resources. He also served as Director of Division of Environmental Management and was instrumental in reorganizing the division's organizational and financial structure, initiating a vigorous air and water environmental enforcement program, and organizing the Chowan River Restoration Project. In 1981, Dr. Grigg was awarded the North Carolina Governor's Award for Environmental Protection.
In addition to his government agency work, Dr. Grigg made contributions to the private sector of water resource management and consulting. In 1968, he co-founded Sellards & Grigg, Inc., a Denver-based civil infrastructure engineering firm. While serving as vice-president of the firm (1968-1976), he was involved in engineering projects that included flood control analysis and design, storm water planning, design and finance, water distribution systems management, and water rights augmentation. His recent activities include reports on the infrastructure workforce, organization of infrastructure industry, and the impact of infrastructure on economic development.
Dr. Grigg has been a consistent advocate for public works education and research, serving on American Public Works Association (APWA), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and American Water Works Association (AWWA) committees. He served on the Board of Directors of APWA and chaired the Management Practices Evaluation Committee, Committee on Education Needs of Public Works Employees, and the Awards Evaluation Committee. He was also a member of three working groups for the National Council on Public Works Improvement which recently issued recommendations for more active public works education.
In the international stage, Dr. Grigg served as Director of Office of the International Education and Director of the International School for Water Resources at Colorado State University. He was also a member of the steering committee for the World Congress on Engineering Education. As a former member of the American Public Works Association's Council on International Collaboration, he helped organize a fellowship program that brought foreign students to the Congress. In addition, he developed a UNESCO program of cooperation with UFRGS (Brazil) and directed a US-Italy videotape course in water systems management. He has led professional delegations to South Africa (1996), Vietnam (1993), Japan (1992), and China (1987).
In addition, Dr. Grigg has proven himself to be dedicated to promoting minority education in water resources. In 1991-92, assisted by a grant from the Ford Foundation, Dr. Grigg developed a network of minority institutions interested in water and environmental management and conducted a summer conference/workshop to initiate long-term cooperation among these institutions. Desired outcomes for the 1992 conference, "Water Resources and Environment: Education, Training, and Research," included forming consortia, improving curricula, helping students locate opportunities to help finance and enrich their education, and focusing on diversity goals. More than 70 attendees presented 62 papers and deliberated issues in six workshops, and plans were laid for the establishment of a consortium in water and environmental education.
Dr. Grigg's many long-term contributions to the field of water resources make him uniquely qualified to receive the prestigious Warren A. Hall Medal.
This page last updated 3-11-04
uwin@siu.edu