The Inaugural Perry McCarty Distinguished Lecture

April 28, 2009.

On April 28, 2009, the inaugural lecture of the Perry McCarty Distinguished Lectureship was given by Dr. Alexander Zehnder.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, with the generous support of Perry McCarty's colleagues and friends, had established the Perry McCarty Distinguished Lectureship in his honor.

In announcing the Lectureship, Professor Dick Luthy wrote:
“Professor Perry McCarty, the Silas H. Palmer Professor Emeritus of Environmental Engineering, is widely recognized as one of the world’s most eminent environmental engineers and scientists. Renowned as both a researcher and as a teacher, he is a close friend to many of his academic and engineering colleagues...Our hope is that the lectures will broaden the education of our students through exposure to new ideas, and help ensure that our students can aspire to bring their own ideas to reality.”

The topic of Dr. Zehnder’s inaugural presentation was global water supply and the challenge humanity faces in the near future of finding a supply of sufficient, good quality fresh water. Zehnder is Scientific Director of the Alberta Water Research Institute (AWRI) in Edmonton, Canada, founder and director of triple Z Ltd., and professor emeritus of ETH Zurich, and former president of the ETH Board, the governing board of the ETH-system comprising two universities (ETH-Zurich and ETH-Lausanne), and four national laboratories.