A long list of outstanding achievements in water resources engineering has earned Larry W. Mays the status of Fellow of the International Water Association (IWA).
Mays is a professor of civil, environmental and sustainable engineering in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment.
Professor Larry W. Mays
The London-based IWA is a leading organization for professionals in water-related science, engineering and technology fields, with close to 10,000 individual and 500 corporate members in about 80 countries.
The position of IWA Fellow recognizes members who have contributed significantly to advances in the water fields that have proven valuable to society.
Mays has been elected on the basis of his “extraordinary record of accomplishments” in areas including hydrology, water resources sustainability and the history of ancient water systems.
His broad range of expertise is reflected in the 23 books focused on water engineering topics he has authored or co-authored, or for which he served as editor-in-chief.
He is also a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the International Water Resources Association.
His work has earned a number of prestigious awards for contributions to water resources development, including the ASCE Julian Hinds Award, the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulazizz International Prize for Water/Surface Water Prize, and the Warren Hall Medal from Universities Council on Water Resources.
Mays has been particularly active with the IWA Specialist Group on Water and Wastewater in Ancient Civilizations. He has given keynote addresses at IWA symposiums and been involved in developing IWA journal papers, conference proceedings papers, and newsletters.
He also helped to develop the book “The Evolution of Water Supply Through the Millennia,” published by the IWA in 2012. He wrote five chapters for the book, which was deemed “The Water Book of the Year, Decade, and Millennia” by the international organization 300in6, which promotes water sustainability.
Mays has spent decades researching ancient water technologies in an effort to relate modern-day water resources sustainability practices to those of the ancients, especially in developing parts of the world.
He has photographed the sites of many ancient water systems around the world, and many of the photographs are used in his books and articles on the topic, including the book “Ancient Water Technologies,” published by Springer Publishing. It is available on the website http://ancientwatertechnologies.com
Mays joins Bruce Rittmann, who is also a professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, as an IWA Fellow.
