Pal Hegedus Receives Hungary's Knight's Cross Civilian Award
Pal Hegedus,
P.E., D.WRE
Pal Hegedus, P.E., D.WRE, Founding Diplomate and Vice President with RBF Consulting in Sacramento, CA, was awarded the prestigious Knight's Cross Merit of the Republic of Hungary Award — Hungary’s sixth-highest civilian honor. The award was personally presented to Mr. Hegedus by the Environmental and Water Resources Minister, Imre Szabo, on behalf of the President of the Republic of Hungary, Laszlo Solyom. The awards ceremony occurs annually in conjunction with Hungary’s national holiday, the Revolution of 1848.
The Knight’s Cross award recognizes Hegedus’ contributions in introducing advanced floodplain management and modeling techniques to local flood control agencies, as well as his work with staff and students at the Technical University of Budapest. A native of Hungary, he has returned annually over the past 10 years to lecture on floodplain management and provide instruction in modeling programs such as HEC-RAS and FLO—2D. Additionally, Pal has been helping a local water agency in Szolnok in developing floodplain mapping and modeling for the Tisza River, the second largest river in Hungary . His efforts, dedication and contributions to the people and communities of Hungary also earned him an invitation to the American Embassy to meet with Eleni Kounalakis, The U.S. Ambassador to Hungary .
Pal was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary, where he completed his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering and his graduate studies in Water Resources Engineering at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. Shortly after graduation, Pal emigrated to the United States with his wife, where they raised two sons.
Mr. Hegedus has been working in Sacramento, California since 1980 as a consultant designing and managing many water resources projects. Currently, Pal works for RBF Consulting as Vice President in charge of the Water Resources Department in the Sacramento office.
In 2006, the Floodplain Management Association (FMA) awarded Pal with Floodplain Manager of the Year for his long-term accomplishments and contributions in floodplain management. Currently, Pal serves as the Chair of FMA. In 2007, he was asked by ASCE to organize a local EWRI Chapter. The Sacramento Chapter has been very active and it was recognized as an Outstanding Chapter at the 2009 EWRI Congress in Kansas City . Currently, Pal still serves as the Chair of the EWRI Sacramento Chapter.
Pal shared his thoughts with AAWRE regarding his recognition:
It was a great honor to receive this prestigious award form the Hungarian Government. It came as a big surprise. I have been frequently visiting Hungary since the late 1980s providing volunteer help for the University, the Ministry of Environment and many of the local Water Resources agencies. Most of my volunteer work has been related to flood management and storm water quality issues, and teaching up to date hydraulic modeling techniques used in the United States.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, I developed an internship program for Hungarian Students from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The students spent a year working under my supervision learning the ways we plan and design projects in the U.S. Most of them completed their Diploma Thesis in English here in Sacramento and defended their work in English upon return to Hungary.
I was not doing the volunteer work in Hungary for any reward(s) - but it felt extremely good to be recognized for my efforts.
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