Message from AAWRE 2022-2023 President Paul Boulos

Dear Fellow Board Certified Water Resources Engineers: I am honored to be taking the helm as President of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers. All of us on the Board of Trustees eagerly look forward to working with you to guide the continued growth and success of our noble profession and help lead AAWRE to new heights of excellence.

I join with the AAWRE staff and the entire past and present AAWRE Board of Trustees to extend our sincere gratitude to our outgoing President, James D. Barton, PE, D.WRE (Ret.), for his dynamic leadership in putting AAWRE on a sound financial footing and advancing it to an unprecedented level of success. He is truly a hard act to follow. We are also grateful to outgoing Past President, Dr. Findlay G. Edwards, P.E., D.WRE, BCEE, F.ASCE and outgoing Trustees John Kevin Ward, Aff.M.ASCE and Holly Kay Piza, P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE for their indelible contributions to helping our Academy realize its goals. Thanks to these engineering leaders and to all of you, the state of AAWRE has never been stronger.

We also extend our heartfelt congratulations to Dennis L. Richards, P.E., D.WRE, F.EWRI, F.ASCE on his new role as President-Elect and a warm welcome to our two new trustees, Dr. Steven Abt, P.E., D.WRE (Ret.), F.ASCE and Dr. Marjorie E. Bedessem, P.E., M.ASCE, and to our new public member, Dr. Kathlie S. Jeng-Bulloch, P.E., CFM, D.WRE, M.ASCE.

Thanks to your exemplary efforts, we have continued to make great strides in continuing our program and our growth, partnering with other water-related organizations, and working toward our common goals: to improve the practice, elevate the standards, and advance the profession of water resources engineering. All of you will be tremendous assets as we work to broaden our impact both in the U.S. and abroad.

We need to acknowledge our “home” in ASCE. It is not a coincidence that we hold our awards ceremony during the yearly EWRI Congress. Please make sure to join this mission-critical Institute when you join ASCE or renew your ASCE Membership. My own membership in EWRI and ASCE has furthered my career and working with other members has helped greatly in honing both my leadership and technical skills. I ask you to support our Academy and its mission in the following ways:

1. Include your D.WRE credential after your name in all business correspondence, emails, and business cards.
2. Recruit and encourage colleagues and friends to apply for the D.WRE.
3. Mark your calendars for May 21–24, 2023 as we will host our Diplomate Induction Ceremony during the 2023 EWRI Congress in Henderson, Nevada.
4. Stay certified! The D.WRE is the highest level of advanced post-licensure certification in the civil engineering field. Information on the annual certification renewal process is available at www.aawre.org/certification/staying-certified.
5. Share your news and achievements with fellow Diplomates and the water resources engineering community by making sure they are included in AAWRE News. Send email to: [email protected].
6. Be involved! If you would like to take a more active part in AAWRE and our review committees, there are several ways to support the advancement of your profession. Please email us at [email protected].

All of these vital actions will give us the power and opportunity to create a better tomorrow and make good things happen today. 

We thank you for your indefatigable commitment to strengthening and upholding the high standards of our great profession, and for your exemplary support of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers. You embody our profession at its best.

One of life’s greatest privileges is to serve others. As Nobel Prize winning writer Rabindranath Tagore noted, “I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”  What you do matters. You are making a tangible difference in our world and touching the lives of people everywhere through the work you do. That is where true greatness lies. You are invaluable, and immensely inspiring.

Together, we are building a remarkable force for the greater good that will shape the future of water resources engineering for decades to come and enhance everyone’s quality of life. And we’ve only just begun! I look forward with keen anticipation to what we will achieve together… to move the needle in the right direction for the benefit of humankind…. inspired by one another.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the working committees, and the staff of AAWRE, thank you for your passionate commitment, your generous support, and all that you do for our profession. We wish you and all your loved ones a joyous holiday season.

I am deeply fortunate to have been welcomed into this transformative profession so many years ago, and I am profoundly grateful for the immense privilege of working with you and use our strengths to help humanity as a whole to ascend.

With profound gratitude and warmest wishes,
         

Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEEM, Hon.D.WRE, Dist.D.NE, Dist. M.ASCE, NAE
President
American Academy of Water Resources Engineers