Richard Valentine, professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been selected to receive the Excellence in Environmental Engineering Education (E4) Award for 2018 from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists. The award is granted to an educator who has made a significant contribution to the profession in the area of educating practitioners. It includes an honorarium of $1,000 and travel expenses.

The award will be presented at the academy’s awards luncheon on April 19 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

Valentine has made pioneering contributions in environmental engineering to disinfection byproducts (DBPs) research, including their chemistry and kinetics as applied to drinking water treatment and water distribution systems. He is the leading authority on chloramine disinfectant kinetics which governs the stability of the disinfection process and the safety of drinking water. He developed a simple, practical relationship predicting how fast chloramines decompose in the distribution system which is still widely used today. He also described a mechanism accounting for the instability and subsequent dissolution of lead (from lead pipes) when chloramines are used in disinfection.

The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists® serves the environmental engineering and environmental science professions by providing board certification to those who qualify through experience and testing. The academy also provides training through workshops and seminars, participates in accrediting universities, publishes a periodical and other reference material, interacts with students and young professionals, sponsors a university lecture series, and rewards outstanding achievements through its international awards program.