printable versionMemorial Resolution: Paul Roberts
Paul V. Roberts, C. L. Peck, Class of 1906, Professor Emeritus, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, an outstanding environmental engineer and environmentalist who devoted his professional career to the protection of our natural resources, died of leukemia at his home in Cupertino on February 12, 2006. He was 67.
"Paul combined a great concern for the natural environment with a love of knowledge, a passion for teaching and a great devotion to his students. Professionally he was dedicated to seeking better understanding of natural processes of environmental importance through interdisciplinary research," said Stanford Professor Emeritus Perry L. McCarty. "The esprit de corps that developed in the Environmental Engineering and Science Program with Paul's warmth and generosity helped in creating an exceptional teaching and research atmosphere for us all. Those were splendid years, ones that not only we but also generations of students will remember with fondness for the rest of our lives. We have much gratitude for Paul's many contributions and collaborative spirit."
Paul was born on November 27, 1938, and spent his childhood in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Princeton University with a B.S. degree in chemical engineering. He then pursued graduate study at Cornell University, where he met Inge Rüsch, whom he married in 1965. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1966, Paul spent nearly a year as a Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Valapraiso and Technical University Santa Maria, Chile, under sponsorship of the Ford Foundation and Agency for International Development. Paul then taught briefly as an Instructor at Cornell, following which he moved to California to work as a Process Engineer with Chevron Research Company in Richmond. In 1968 he joined the Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, where he worked for four years. His interest in nature and his increasing concern about industrial pollution of the environment led to a change in his career goals with his decision to devote his life to solving environmental problems, rather than creating them. He thus took advantage of Stanford School of Engineering's Honors Cooperative Program, which allowed him to pursue an M.S. Degree in Environmental Engineering while an SRI employee.
Shortly after obtaining his M.S. degree in 1971, he was offered and began in 1972 a position as Senior Research Scientist and Group Leader in Process Engineering with the Swiss Federal Institute of Water Supply and Water Pollution Control (EAWAG). In 1973 he was promoted to the Head of the Engineering Department for EAWAG and also became a Lecturer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland. However, Paul had a strong yearning to return to California so that when a Research Professorship was offered to him in the Environmental Engineering Program, he returned to California in 1976 to begin his career as a Stanford faculty member.
Paul was a pioneer in wastewater reclamation research. He directed a team of researchers in a field study in the Palo Alto Baylands to evaluate the potential for reclaiming Palo Alto wastewater by advanced treatment processes followed by injection and storage in the underground water reservoir or aquifer. This research was directed towards the potentially hazardous chemicals in water and their movement and fate in the environment, information necessary in decisions about use of such water for augmenting the limited supply available in California. Paul pursued a fundamental understanding of key physicochemical processes affecting disinfection and contaminant removal during water and wastewater treatment (e.g. adsorption and volatilization processes) as well as processes of contaminant transport in the subsurface environment. In the latter regard, he completed numerous conceptual and laboratory investigations and also conceived and directed the first and most definitive field study yet conducted on the movement and fate of hazardous chemicals in groundwater. The large information set generated by this multidisciplinary effort is widely used to calibrate and validate numerical models used by regulatory agencies, engineering firms, and industrial and governmental organizations to design remediation facilities for hazardous chemical contamination. Paul and his team clearly demonstrated the scientific value of carefully designed large field experiments to test hypotheses, to validate mathematical models, to generate understanding of important natural processes, and to surface important questions in need of better theoretical understanding. He brought together an interdisciplinary team of hydrogeologists, chemists, microbiologists, and engineers, and showed the value of interactions between laboratory studies, field studies, and theory for the solution of highly complex environmental problems.
Paul received a regular appointment at Stanford as Associate Professor in 1981, as Professor in 1986, and then as the C.L. Peck, Class of 1906, Professor in the School of Engineering in 1989. He served as Associate Chairman for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 1985 to 1990. He became an Emeritus Professor in 2000.
Paul was an extraordinary educator. He and his graduates have four times won the Academic Achievement Award of the American Water Works Association for outstanding research. He has over 200 publications. He was a Member of the Swiss Academy of Sciences. In 1997, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, which is generally considered to be among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. He received the Scientific and Technical Achievement Award in 1989 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Founders Award of the U.S. National Committee of the International Association on Water Pollution Research and Control in 1990. He received the Founders Award of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors in 2003. He also served on numerous committees for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the National Research Council.
Professor Richard Luthy, Chairman of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering commented, "Paul was one of the very best and admired environmental engineers of my generation. He was drawn to environmental engineering both philosophically and intellectually for he had discovered in himself a deep affection for the natural environment. He was a role model for me and many others for his approach to environmental research and his commitment to democratic ideals and peace." In a memorial remembrance that was intended to speak for many of Paul's former students, Johns Hopkins University professor and Stanford graduate Bill Ball noted that "Paul provided us not only with the tools, motivation and inspiration for making contributions to environmental engineering and science, but also with a poignant example of how one can balance professional excellence with a full and rich personal life."
Paul is survived by his wife, Inge; his three children, Nina, Christopher, and Sebastian; and his nine grandchildren. Shortly after his death, his family wrote the following:
"Paul will be remembered for many outstanding qualities: his great mind and passionate pursuit of knowledge; his music; his love of nature; his unwavering values; his sense of humor; his dedication to a life's work as an environmentalist; his generosity; his wisdom and warmth in guiding his students; and his loving devotion to his family."
Family, friends, and colleagues gathered to celebrate Paul's life and to honor him at a memorial service at Stanford University's Memorial Church on February 22, 2006.
Committee: Richard Luthy, Chair James Leckie Perry McCarty