Each year, UCOWR recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Organization and names them as “Friends of UCOWR.”  The 1999 Friends of UCOWR are: John S. Jackson, Kyle E. Schilling, and Robert  Ward.  The 1999 Friends were named for their support of Colorado State University. UCOWR and for their water related projects at the regional, state, and national level.

John S. Jackson has been involved with the UCOWR organization and its leadership since prior to the organizations move to Southern Illinois University, Carbondale 13 years ago.  At that time Chancellor Jackson was Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and was able to help facilitate this transition.  Since that time, he also has kept a close watch on its development and on the University’s interaction with the organization.  Dr. Jackson believes that UCOWR is one of the most important activities SIUC plays host and is proud of SIUC’s role in helping to support UCOWR over the years.

Dr. Jackson received a Ph.D. in political science from Vanderbilt University (1971); a master's degree in political science from Baylor University (1963); and bachelors degrees in political science and psychology from Ouachita Baptist College (Arkadelphia, Arkansas) 1962.  In 1963, Dr. Jackson worked as an assistant clerk under the late U.S. Senator J.W. Fulbright (D-Ark.) at the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.  He served as a lieutenant and captain in the U.S. Army's Intelligence Corps from January 1964 through July 1966.  A native of Waldo, Arkansas, Chancellor Jackson came to SIUC in September 1969 as an instructor in the government department (now SIUC's Department of Political Science).  He was promoted to assistant professor in 1970, associate professor in 1973, and professor in 1978.  He is also well-known across southern Illinois for his on-camera political commentary and his expertise in U.S. presidential elections.  National, state, and regional media outlets call on him frequently for his expertise.  Dr. Jackson served SIUC in a variety of ways including associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts (1984 to 1985) and associate dean and acting dean of the Graduate School (1980 to 1983).  He was named one of the "Top 20 Teachers" on campus (1972 to 1974) by The Mirror, a student publication that collected information from student evaluations, and has also won an AMOCO Foundation "Best Teacher" award for SIUC.

Chancellor Jackson became Southern Illinois University Carbondale's 17th Chancellor (Interim) on June 5, 1999. Chancellor Jackson, 59, has a myriad of connections to faculty, staff, and students.  He served as vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost from 1996 to 1999.  He and his wife, Nancy, live in Carbondale.  They have two grown children, Jeff Jackson of Fayetteville Ark., and Jill Jackson of Iowa City, Iowa.  Recent books and publications by Chancellor Jackson include:  "The Presidential Selection," co-authored by William Crotty, Harper Collins, 1996, and "The Making of a Primary: The Illinois Presidential Primary - 1912 to 1992," with David Everson and Nancy Clayton, The Institute of Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Springfield, April 1996.

Kyle E. Schilling is Director of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Institute for Water Resources (IWR).  IWR was created in 1969 to anticipate, analyze, and develop improved water resources planning methodologies to address economic, social, institutional, and environmental needs.  He also serves as Director of the Water Resources Support Center (WRSC); the umbrella organization encompassing IWR; the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) in Davis, California; and the Navigation Data Center (NDC).  HEC is renowned for hydrologic engineering expertise and NDC is the Nation’s primary source of navigation and waterborne commerce data.

Mr. Schilling previously served, for ten years, as Chief of the Institute's Policy Studies Program.  Directing, in this position, staff efforts such as the 1977 White House Drought Study Group and the 1980 President's Inter-governmental Water Policy Task Force, Subcommittee on Urban Water Supply.  He served as the only Federal agency expert to the National Council on Public Works Improvement to produce the national water resources infrastructure portion of  “Fragile Foundations”.  More recently, he directed completion of an interagency effort for a Federal Infrastructure Strategy, completion of the National Drought Study, the National Wetlands Mitigation Banking Study, and a major research program in Environmental Evaluation.  Other positions were:  North Atlantic Division, USACE Senior Manager; Northeastern U.S. Water Supply (NEWS) Study and Regional Study Director (Mid-Atlantic) for the 1975 National Assessment (1972-1976); Western U.S. Water Plan; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Denver; principal liaison for plan formulation with 17 state agencies and river basin commissions (1970-1972);  North Atlantic Division, USACE, Plan Formulation Coordinator; North Atlantic Regional (NAR) Study and flood control studies manager (1969-1970);  Nebraska Soil and Water Conservation Commission; Head of Watershed Planning and state representative to the Missouri Basin Interagency Committee (1966-1969);  Civil Engineer, Baltimore District, USACE (1963-1966).

Mr. Schilling is active, often on his own time, in professional organizations, participating frequently, as a principal speaker or organizer of technical sessions or conferences.  He is Past Chairman of the Executive Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Water Resources Planning and Management Division (WRPMD) and remains an active member or officer of several division committees and currently chairs the Planning and Management Council.  He is Past President of the American Public Works Association (APWA) Institute for Water Resources and an active member of several other professional societies.  Internationally, he headed the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (1987) Water Resources Delegation to China; was a member of the 1993 Civil Engineering Research Foundation task force to Europe on Constructed Civil Infrastructure Systems; and has organized or participated in several other significant international conferences.  He has also authored numerous papers and several major water publications.

He received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1963; undertook graduate study at the University of Nebraska; is a Federal Executive Institute graduate; is a registered professional engineer; and a Certified Diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers.  He was the WRSC Engineer of the Year in 1987; received the ASCE-WRPMD Service to the Profession Award in 1995; and the ASCE-Zone II Government Engineer of the Year Award in 1995; and was elected a “Friend of UCOWR” (Universities Council on Water Resources) in 1999.  He is listed in “Who’s Who in Science and Engineering.”  He has also been active in civic affairs and the International Student Exchange program.
 

Robert Ward has devoted twenty-nine years to teaching, research and administration in the College of Engineering at Colorado State University.  His teaching and research have been in the general area of water quality monitoring and management, non-point source pollution control, and systems engineering and optimization.  He has also taught freshman engineering computing and design courses, as well as senior engineering design courses.  He served as co-director of the HI-TIE Program (a College of Engineering/high school educational partnership) for 10 years.  Administrative experience includes: serving as Interim Department Head, Associate Dean of Engineering for Undergraduate Studies, Interim Vice Chancellor for the Colorado State University System, Director of the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute, and Director of the Colorado State University Water Center. Professor Ward has also served as Director of the IBM Environmental Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program in ground water quality monitoring at Colorado State University; evaluated water quality monitoring programs around the world in a private consulting capacity; co-directed a one week, summer short course on water quality monitoring for the past 20 years; and served as chair of a College of Engineering committee that developed and is currently implementing a new Bachelor of Science degree in environmental engineering.

Professor Ward is the author of two books and over 80 research articles, most of which address the design of water quality monitoring systems.  He is a member of the American Water Resources Association (and served on the Board of Directors from 1995-1998); the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (and served on the Board of Directors from 1990-1992); the American Society of Civil Engineers; the American Academy of Environmental Engineers; and the American Society for Engineering Education.  He is Colorado State Universities lead delegate to the Universities Council on Water Resources (and served on the Board of Directors from 1992-97 and president for 1995-96).  He is also Colorado's representative to the National Institutes for Water Resources.  Dr. Ward received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering from Mississippi State University, 1966; a Masters degree in Agricultural Engineering (Minor in Mathematics) from North Carolina State University, 1968; a Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering (Minor in Water Resources) from North Carolina State University, 1970.