1999 Clarke Prize goes to Caltech engineering professor

PASADENA-James J. Morgan, who is Marvin L. Goldberger Professor of Environmental Engineering Science and former vice president for student affairs at the California Institute of Technology, has been awarded the 1999 Clarke Prize by the National Water Research Institute.

The $50,000 award is given each year in the field of water research and technology.

"Dr. Morgan's career contributions to the body of knowledge encompassing the many fields of water science and technology have been truly exemplary," according to the Clarke Prize citation.

"Dr. Morgan has been a dominant figure in gaining an understanding of and establishment of environmental chemistry as a core discipline for limnologists, oceanographers, ecologists, soil scientists, and environmental engineers," the citation continues.

Morgan earned his bachelor's degree from Manhattan College in New York, his master's from the University of Michigan, and his doctorate from Harvard University. He joined the Caltech faculty as associate professor of environmental health engineering in 1965, and has served in various offices at the Institute through the years.

>From 1980 to 1989, he was vice president for student affairs, and also served as dean of students from 1972 to 1975, acting dean of graduate studies from 1981 to 1984, and acting director of the Environmental Quality Lab. He is former executive officer for environmental engineering science.

His research interests include the chemistry of natural water systems; coagulation processes in aqueous systems; rates of oxidation processes in water; adsorption and surface chemistry; chemistry of water purification; and water quality modeling. With Werner Stumm, he wrote the book Aquatic Chemistry and, with Charles O'Melia and Chin Pao Huang, edited Aquatic Chemistry: Interfacial and Interspecies Processes.

Morgan was recently named the 1999 corecipient, with Stumm, of the Stockholm Water Prize for his contributions "to the preservation, enhancement or availability of the world's water resources."

The Clarke Prize was established in 1993 by the NWRI to recognize scientists and engineers of exceptional ability, to promote better research and technology, and to honor the vision of its cofounder, the late Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke.

Mrs. Clarke, along with her daughter, Joan Irvine Smith, provided the inspiration, encouragement, and financial support that established the NWRI in 1991.