Stedinger

Jery Stedinger, Cornell professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He is among 67 new members and 11 foreign associates elected this year. Stedinger was cited for his work in “statistical methods for flood risk assessment and optimization methods for hydropower system management.”

Stedinger’s research addresses statistical issues in hydrology, particularly flood risk, model calibration and water quality, as well as optimal operation of water resource systems. His research has included use of historical information in flood frequency analysis, regional hydrologic regression and network analyses, risk and uncertainty of flood-risk reduction projects, calibration and uncertainty for rainfall-runoff models, stochastic simulation of water resource systems, and efficient multiple-reservoir and hydropower system operation and design.

He joined the Cornell faculty in 1977 after receiving his Ph.D. in environmental systems engineering from Harvard University in 1977 and a B.A. in applied mathematics from University of California, Berkeley, in 1972.

Stedinger is a distinguished member of the American Society of Civil Engineering and a fellow of the American Geophysical Union. He was lead author of the frequency analysis chapter in the 1993 McGraw-Hill “Handbook of Hydrology” and an author of the 1981 textbook, “Water Resource Systems Planning and Analysis.”He has served on National Research Council committees on dam safety, water resources research and flood risk management, and advisory committees on flood frequency for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and interagency efforts.

Among Stedinger’s other professional honors: In 2011 he received the Warren A. Hall Medal for contributions to water resources by the Universities Council on Water Resources. In 2004 he received the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water for his work on flood frequency analysis. The American Society of Civil Engineers recognized his work with the Julian Hinds Award in 1997, the Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize in 1989 and the 2014 Ven Te Chow Award. Stedinger was a 1984-89 National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature,” and to the “pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”