David W. Hendricks

Water, all aspects, e.g., rivers, as a fluid, quality, treatment, history,has been my passion since I was an undergraduate in civil engineering at Berkeley. I had a brief experience with the California Department of Water Resources after graduation in 1954, and before being inducted into the US Army, the latter being another education. After the army, I wanted to see more of the Mountain West so went to Utah State for a master's degree, then went to the University of Idaho to teach in water and do research on canal seepage, under a US Bureau of Reclamation contract. Feeling a need for more education, I started doctoral studies at the University of Iowa in hydraulic engineering but transferred soon after to sanitary engineering, graduating in 1965. Dr. Vaughn Hansen, my advisor at Utah State and mentor, invited me back to be on the faculty and to do research at the new Utah Water Research Laboratory, helping to start a program in water quality. Due to Sputnik in 1957 and the environmental movement of the 1960's, obtaining funds for research was not difficult; in 1970, I joined the faculty at Colorado State where I stayed until retiring in 2001.

My career has been shared with talented graduate students. After my doctoral studies they did the work. I have been continuously impressed by exceptional colleagues, both in the USA and abroad. The field has made the transition from rudimentary knowledge to a science underpinning during the past fifty years. My research has been mostly experimental, drawing on educational capital to interpret results and to know how to observe. The observations in experimental in various kinds of research has been the basis for understanding the behavior of real systems, e.g., adsorption, filtration, slow sand, diatomaceous earth. aeration, biological, etc., and to use models. My career has been a continuing adventure in joint learning with students. Working with various professionals in practice has provided additional and needed learning experiences.