Engineering Memory of the Month

A prize for clean water

The work of civil and environmental engineering Professor Emeritus Perry McCarty is a signature body of Stanford Engineering environmental research. McCarty has made pioneering breakthroughs in biological processes for water quality control and the control of hazardous substances in treatment systems and groundwater.

One measure of McCarty's influence over the years has been how often other researchers have cited his publications. In all, McCarty’s publications have been cited more than 8,000 times. The Institute for Scientific Information lists him among the top 115 most-cited researchers in all fields of engineering.

Another measure occurred back on May 1, 1992, when McCarty received one of the highest distinctions in environmental science, the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (above). “It was especially gratifying to receive the Tyler Prize,” he said. “This was the greatest professional recognition that I could have received for my efforts to develop a more scientific basis for applying biological processes in the control of water pollution and hazardous chemicals in the environment."

Send your memories (anecdotes and photos) to David Orenstein, manager, Communications and P.R.