Duane D

Universities Council on Water Resources

FRIENDS OF UCOWR

Each year, UCOWR recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Organization and names them as “Friends of UCOWR.” The 2002 Friend of UCOWR is Dr. Duane D. Baumann, Executive Director of UCOWR and Professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Dr. Baumann was named a Friend for his continued support of UCOWR and for his support of water related research and teaching throughout the country.

Dr. Duane D. Baumann served as Executive Director of the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR) for 15 years, from 1988 to 2002. During that span of time, he facilitated the development and evolution of UCOWR in substantial ways. He sought and gained the strong support of the leadership of Southern Illinois University Carbondale for SIU to become UCOWR headquarters. Through negotiations with SIU and his skilled management, he built a sound financial foundation for UCOWR. He took the newsletter Water Resources Updates and turned it into the highly respected quality publication it is today. Since 1988, 44 Water Resources Updates have been published representing over 400 articles. A recent letter from Clifford Russell, Director of the Public Policy Institute at Vanderbilt University, praising UPDATE reflects the widespread opinion that this journal is one of UCOWR’s major accomplishments during Duane’s watch. Furthermore, he developed UWIN (Universities Water Information Network) as comprehensive information for water professionals resource on the World Wide Web. His efforts to enhance the quality and utility of UCOWR annual meetings brought increased attendance at these meetings and post-conference publications of great utility to the water resources community. Also, he was steadfast in promoting collaboration with other professional associations in joint conferences. Finally and equally important, with Duane’s guidance, the Board of Directors came to expect the joy of extraordinary cuisine.

Duane’s long term as Executive Director of UCOWR spanned the second half of a successful academic career in the water resources field, largely as a faculty member in the Geography Department at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIU). With his wife Nancy, he established the Carbondale-based water resources consulting firm, Planning and Management Consultants Ltd. Although retired from UCOWR, Duane is currently involved in developing a Masters Degree program with the US Army Corps of Engineers and various UCOWR member institutions.

Duane received his Ph.D. from Clark University in 1967 and joined the faculty at SIU. During his sabbatical, his research focused on human response to natural hazards and collaborated with colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M University, and the University of Colorado. By the age of 39 Duane was promoted to Professor. He served as dissertation advisor to 13 Ph.D. students and thesis advisor to 18 Masters students; many of these students have pursued very successful careers in the water resources field such as Ben Dziegielewski (Professor at SIU and Director of IWRA), and Jack Langowski (President of Planning and Management Consultants Ltd). Duane worked with numerous colleagues throughout the country but most frequently with John Boland (John Hopkins University), John Sims (formerly at the University of Chicago), and Ben Dziegielewski. Duane worked with those scholars and practitioners to produce 36 monographs, 14 book chapters, and 32 articles in peer-reviewed journals including Science and Water Resources Research, and his last book with John Boland and Michael Hanneman (University of California, Berkeley) Urban Water Demand Management and Planning. The great majority of these publications are directly related to improved efficiency in the management of our nation’s water resources.

Duane worked with other important water resources organizations in various capacities including a term on the Board of Directors of the International Water Resources Association, American Water Resources Association, Chairman of the IGU Committee on Role of Perception on Resource Management and Conservation, member of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Water Supply Reviews, member of the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Water Resources Research Review, and as a Board member for UCOWR. He was co-founder of the Association of American Geographer’s Water Resources Specialty Group. He has long served as an advisor on water management to the Corps of Engineers Institute for Water Resources.

Duane served as a board member of University Bank, Bank of DeSoto (where he was Chairman of the Board) and First National Bank and Trust of Carbondale. He is currently a board member on Market Street Bankshares and on the regional board of Old National Bank and Trust of Evansville.

Duane divides his time between his home in Creve Coeur, Missouri, and his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Duane and his wife Nancy, also a geographer, have been working together since 1974. He is the proud father of three daughters, Bridget, Rebecca, and Brittany, and five grandchildren.