Honors and Awards
2023 Outstanding Achievement Award, China Chemical Society.
2023 Thompson Reuter’s Highly Cited Researcher (consequently, since 2014)
2022 Distinguished Fellow of IETI (International Engineering and Technology Institute)
2022 Elected to Chinese Academy of Engineering
2022 ACS Southwest Regional Partners in Progress & Prosperity (P3) Award (with M. Reynolds & M. Wong)
2021 ASCE Simon Freese Award
2021 NSF Engineering 40th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture
2020 ES Nano best papers: DOI: 10.1039/C9EN00143C and DOI: 10.1039/C9EN00827F
2020 ES&T best feature article: DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.8b05041
2020 Advisory Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2019-now Board of Directors, Houston Endowment Inc.
2019 William Mong distinguished lecture, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Hong Kong
2018 Inducted into the National Academy of Engineering
2018 Perry McCarty AEESP Founders’ Award for Outstanding Contributions to Env. Eng. Education & Practice
2018 Brown and Caldwell Lifetime Achievement Award for Remediation
2017 Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) Distinguished Lecturer
2017 Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization tribute conference session, Marina del Rey, CA.
2017 Distinguished Scientist (Einstein Prof), President’s International Fellowship Initiative Program, China
2016-2019 Advisory Board, Directorate for Engineering of the National Science Foundation
2015 Best paper award, ES&T Letters, (1), 26-30, 2014
2015 Thompson Reuter’s Highly Cited Researcher (top 1% in Chemistry and in Environment Ecology)
2014 AAEES Grand Prize, Excellence in Env. Eng. And Science University Research Award
2014 Thompson Reuter’s Highly Cited Researcher (top 1% in Environment/Ecology)
2014 Honorary Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
2014 Most downloaded paper in Water Research (Wat. Res. 47, (12), 3931–3946).
2013 Most cited paper in Water Research in the last 5 years (Wat. Res. 44:2894-2900)
2012 The Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize
2012 South Texas Section AIChE’s Best Fundamental Paper Award
2011 Science Advisory Board to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
2011 Dean of Engineering’s Lecture, Columbia University
2010 Most cited paper in the past 5 year, Water Research (Wat. Res. 40(19):3527-3532
2010 Top-10 most read paper, ACS nano (ACS Nano, 2010, 4 (7), pp 3580–3590).
2010 Honorary Professor, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, China
2009 Professor of the Year, ASCE & Chi Epsilon Student Chapters, Rice University
2008 Frontier in Research Award, Assoc. of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors
2008 Founding Member, Nicaraguan National Academy of Sciences
2008 John Henske Distinguished Lecture, Yale University
2007 McKee Medal for Groundwater Protection, Restoration or Sustainable Use (WEF)
2006 Board of Directors, Strake Jesuit College Preparatory
2006 Honorary Professor, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
2005-2006 President, Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors
2005 Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
2004 Reviewer Award, Environmental Science and Technology
2003-2006 Board of Directors, Nicaragua’s Water Management Agency (ENACAL)
2003 Consul of Nicaragua for Iowa (ad honorem)
2003 Best Poster Award, EPA International Applied Phytotechnologies Conference. Chicago, IL
2002 Research project of the year award, SERDP cleanup division, Department of Defense.
2002-2006 Board of Directors, Assoc. Env. Engrg. and Science Professors (AEESP)
2002 Editorial Board Member of Bioremediation and Bioavailability, The Scientific World
2000 Awarded the Button of the City of Valencia, Venezuela, by the Mayor of the City
2000 Best Student Paper Award, Battelle 6th Bioremediation Symposium, San Diego, CA
1998 The UI Collegiate Excellence in Teaching Award, University of Iowa
1997 Participant, National Academy of Engineering’s Symposium: Frontiers of Engrg.
1997 Best Student Paper Award, WEF 70th Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
1997 Listed in Who’s Who in Science and Engineering
1997 Appointed Adjunct Professor, Universidad Autónoma de México, Mexico, D.F.
1996 Honored Member, Strathmore’s Who’s Who Register of Business Leaders
1996 Listed in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and Who’s Who in Environ. Engrg.
1996 Awarded the Alejo Zuloaga Medal by the Universidad de Carabobo, Venezuela
1995 Inducted into the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, Diplomate Status
1995 Career Award, National Science Foundation.
1995 Best Paper Award, EPA Hazardous Substance Research Center for Regions 7 and 8
1995 Appointed Adjunct Professor, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brasil
1995 Old Gold Summer Fellowship, University of Iowa
1994, 2002 Elected to The University of Iowa Faculty Senate
1994 Old Gold Summer Fellowship, University of Iowa
1992 Outstanding Presentation Award, AIChE Summer Meeting, Minneapolis, MN
1992 The Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
1991 The Outstanding Achievement Award in Environmental Engineering, U. of Michigan