Edward Bouwer, the Abel Wolman Professor of Environmental Engineering and a beloved member of the Whiting School of Engineering’s faculty for 34 years, died on Oct. 9, 2019.
Bouwer joined the Whiting School’s Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering in 1985 and served as the department chair from 2007 until 2016, when he led the department through the process of creating the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, a cross-divisional academic department spanning the Whiting School and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Bouwer’s research focused on defining and managing environmental risks, and understanding human and ecological health risk data. As director of the Center for Contaminant Transport, Fate, and Remediation, he studied the effects of contamination in Maryland’s urban environments and shared his findings with government officials and the public to inform decisions about land use and environmental policy.
“Making a positive and lasting impact on society is critical to the school’s mission, and Ed embodied this ideal in all that he did,” says Ed Schlesinger, the Benjamin T. Rome Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering. “Ed’s legacy includes not only the generations of students he taught and mentored over the years but also his research. His findings have influenced environmental policy and the public’s understanding of risks to the environment caused by human activity.”