ASCE has honored Paul K. Westerhoff, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, NAE, M.ASCE, with the 2027 Simon W. Freese Environmental Engineering Award and Lecture for his extraordinary accomplishments in using fundamental scientific principles and current research findings to solve the most challenging environmental engineering problems.
Westerhoff is one of the world’s foremost experts in water quality, examining interactions and fates of pollutants in natural and engineered aquatic systems. For over three decades, he has been investigating the fate of nanomaterials in water, developing novel technologies for water treatment and reuse, and understanding reactions related to the fate of pollutants during treatment or in natural systems, with a focus on oxo-anions, natural organic matter, and micropollutants.
He has over 400 journal publications (ISI H-index > 100) and multiple patents resulting from his research.
He is also the recipient of several awards, including the 2020 A.P. Black award from the American Water Works Association, 2019 NWRI Clarke Prize for excellence in the fields of water science and technology, 2017 Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization Annual Achievement Award, ASU Outstanding Doctoral Mentor for 2015, 2013 ARCADIS/AEESP Frontier in Research Award, and 2006 Paul L. Busch Award. He was awarded several Best Paper awards in various journals and currently serves as an executive editor for the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T).
The Simon W. Freese Environmental Engineering Award and Lecture is awarded to a distinguished environmental engineer whom the ASCE Executive Director will invite to deliver a lecture at a given meeting of the Society.
