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James Mihelcic, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was awarded the Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Medal on September 29 during the . This award recognizes accomplishments in research and the education and development of future engineers.  The medal honors Gordon Maskew Fair, a professor at Harvard University, who achieved exceptional results in preparing students for the water environment profession.

Mihelcic has a long and sustained record of impactful accomplishments in research and education that have improved public health and protected the environment. At the 黑料网吃瓜爆料, he led development of an ABET accredited baccalaureate environmental engineering degree that emphasizes water quality infrastructure, sustainability, health, data science, and global citizenship. He has advised close to 200 research-based Master鈥檚 and PhD students, including over 130 MS/PhD students who combined their graduate degree with service in the U.S. Peace Corps as environmental health professionals.

Like Fair, Mihelcic has inspired students to conduct research into important areas of concern. He is one the early leaders of the monumental shift in engineering and the water sector to integrate sustainability into education, practice, and research.  His "Ten Grand Challenges" advocated for environmental engineers to be more active in achieving sustainability in developing regions of the world. His team uncovered a previously unknown and important route of childhood lead (Pb) exposure in Sub-Saharan Africa legacy water systems. This led to a local and cost-effective pump intervention that was proven to significantly reduce child blood lead levels. He led special issues in high impact scientific journals to disseminate the latest transformational research enabling significant advances towards achieving the United Nation鈥檚 Sustainable Development Goals. In the U.S., he has charted a transformational path forward with multiple high profile federal grants to advance water research and technological innovation that emphasize sustainability and integrates meaningful collaboration with community members and social scientists.

Mihelcic has authored multiple textbooks that are widely used throughout the world including Environmental Engineering: Fundamentals, Sustainability, Design, which is the first engineering textbook that incorporated principles of sustainable design and development. His widely used Field Guide in Environmental Engineering for Development Workers: Water, Sanitation, Indoor Air (ASCE Press, forward by President Jimmy Carter) received several awards in a contest sponsored by Washington Book Publishers. Professor Mihelcic also wrote or co-edited all sanitation technology chapters for the seminal 2020 book Sanitation and Disease in the 21st Century: Health and Microbiological Aspects of Excreta and Wastewater Management (co-published by UNESCO and Michigan State). This book updated a benchmark reference work on water related disease risks and engineering intervention measures.  

The Water Environment Federation's Technical Exhibition and Conference is the largest annual water quality exhibition in North America. The Water WEF is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization of more than 30,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world.