Dr. George F. Pinder has been elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Charles M. Vest, president of NAE, will honor Dr. Pinder, one of 68 newly elected members as well as the newly elected eight foreign associates in a ceremony this Fall.
Pinder is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering with secondary appointments in Mathematics and Statistics and Computer Science, at the University of Vermont College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences.
“This prestigious recognition by NAE acknowledges the accomplishments of Dr. Pinder as an internationally renowned expert and world leader in groundwater modeling,” says Chip Cole, Interim Dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences.
The NAE mission is to promote the technological welfare of the nation by marshaling the knowledge and insights of eminent members of the engineering profession. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education, including, significant contributions to the engineering literature, and to the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.
Pinder‘s many accomplishments include induction into the Vermont Academy of Scientists and Engineers (VASE). Membership in VASE, modeled after the National Academies, represents the highest recognition for contributions to science and engineering in Vermont. The State of Vermont chartered the Vermont Academy of Science and Engineering to honor scientists and engineers for their achievements, promote the interests of science and engineering within the state, educate Vermonters about the importance of science and engineering, and help state government address problems in those fields.
Pinder was elected by colleagues to serve as President of the Hydrology Section of the American Geophysical Union and was the founding Chair of the Groundwater Council of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Pinder also is the founding editor of Advances in Water Resources and Numerical Methods for Partial Differential Equations. He has published nine books, and over 100 journal papers in the premier journals of the field. His honors include: the GSA O. E. Meinzer Award, The Eminent Scientists Award Medal, the AGU Horton Award, Fellow of Wessex Institute, University of Vermont Scholar, election to AGU Fellow, and the ASCE Julian Hinds Award.
Pinder has served as Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University and Dean of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont. He has graduated 30 PhD students, and some of his former PhD students are now Professors, Deans, and Provosts at several major universities.