If you are interested in being added to our mailing list to receive the call for nominations, please send your contact information with your request to Bonnie Jean MacKay at the mailing address above, or by e-mail to safl@umn.edu. Please use the subject heading "Straub Award Mailing List."

Nominations may also be submitted even if you have not received a formal invitation to do so. Simply read the guidelines and follow the instructions above.

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Recipients

2004 AWARD
The winner of the 2004 Straub Award, selected by a system of scoring the individual rankings of three judges, is Dr. Michael L. MacWilliams, who completed his Ph.D. thesis under the advisorship of Professors Peter Kitanidis and Prof. Robert Street at Stanford University. His dissertation is entitled, "Three-dimensional Hydrodynamic Simulation of River Channels and Floodplains." Dr. MacWilliams' thesis was selected out of 5 submitted theses, all of which were judged to be of award quality. Two theses came from the USA, one from Canada , one from the United Kingdom, and one submission was the result of a collaborative advising effort by a U.S. institution together with a German one.

2003 AWARD
The winner of the 2003 Straub Award is Dr. Patricia M. Saco, who completed her Ph.D. thesis under the advisorship of Professor Praveen Kumar at The University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign. Her dissertation is entitled, " Flow Dynamics in Large River Basins: Self-Similar Network Structure and Scale Effects." Dr. Saco's thesis was selected out of 6 submitted theses, all of which were judged to be of award quality. Five theses came from the USA, and one from Canada.

The 38th Straub Award presentation occurred on November 30, 2005 in the St. Anthony Falls Auditorium. The keynote speaker was Dr. John Anfinson, Mississippi River Historian for the National Park Service.

2002 AWARD
The winner of the 2002 Straub Award was Dr. Emily A. Zedler, who completed her Ph.D. thesis under the advisorship of Professor Robert Street at Stanford University. Her dissertation is entitled, "Large Eddy Simulation of Sediment Transport in Oscillatory Flow over Wavy Terrain". Dr. Zedler's thesis was selected out of 8 submitted theses, all of which were judged to be of award quality. Five theses came from the USA, and one each from from Australia, Canada, and Switzerland, respectively.

On April 1, 2005, the 37th Straub Award presentation was made at a seminar held in the St. Anthony Falls Auditorium. The keynote speaker was Professsor Gary Parker. Introductory remarks were given by Edward Silberman.

2001 AWARD
The winner of the 2001 Straub Award was Dr. John Philipp Vitkovsky, of the University of Adelaide, Australia. His thesis is entitled,“Inverse Analysis and Modelling of Unsteady Pipe Flow: Theory, Applications and Experimental Verification”. Dr. Vitkovsky's advisors were Professors Angus Simpson, and Martin Lambert. A total of four theses were nominated for the 2001 Award. Two were from Australia, and two from the USA.

The Award Ceremony was held on November 10, 2004 at 3:00 p.m., at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory. Guest Speakers Ephraim Sparrow and John Anderson, professors of mechanical engineering, jointly presented the keynote lecture.

2000 AWARD
Seven theses were submitted for the 2000 Straub award; four from the U. S., and one each from Australia, Germany, and Singapore.

The winner selected for the 2000 Straub Award was Dr. Dragoslav Stefanovic, for his thesis entitled, "Two Dimensional Modeling of Connective Exchange Processes in Stratified Lakes". Dr. Stefanovic did his Ph.D. work under Professor Heinz Stefan at the University of Minnesota.

The Presentation of the 2000 Straub Award was held on November 12, 2003. The keynote speaker was Professor Joseph Katz of The Johns Hopkins University.

1966-1999 AWARDS information can be found here.

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History of the Award

(Excerpt from the book "The St. Anthony Falls Hydraulic Laboratory - The First Fifty Years" by Mary H. Marsh.)

Shortly after Straub's death, a Lorenz G. Straub Fund was established at the University to create a suitable memorial for Straub's professional contributions. Over $18,000 has been contributed to the Memorial Fund by over 100 individuals and organizations in amounts ranging from $5 to $2,500. The estabilshemnt of the Lorenz G. Straub Award to be supported by this fund was announced at the dedication of the Lorenz G. Straub Memorial library within St. Anthony Falls Laboratory by Edward Silberman. The Award, made annually, is for the author of an expecially mertiorious thesis in the area of hydraulic engineering or a closely related area. In reflection of Straub's world-wide professional activities, recipients can be from any school throughout the world, which has an appropriate graduate degree program. The award consists of a medal and an honorarium. Inititally, both M. S. and Ph. D. theses could be submitted, but after the first two awards were made, the competition was limited to Ph. D. theses. Over 200 theses were submitted in the first 20 years after the award was established. Two thirds of these were submitted from schools in the United States, and the other third came from universities in India, seven countries in Europe, and from Canada and Australia. Because the number of theses in some years was quite substantial, in 1980, submissions were limited to one per university.

The Straub Award is presented annually at a Special Colloquium held at the Laboratory. The first Award was presented in 1966. For the first 5 years, the featured speaker was the recipient, who gave a summary of his thesis. In 1971, the Straub Lecture was added as a part of the Colloquium. The lectures are given by invited guests who are outstanding in their fields.

When the Straub Award was established, it was recognized that it was unique in its nature. In the years of its existence, it has come to be widely recognized professionally and has accrued much honor to its recipients.

Two of the award holders joined the faculty at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory some years after receiving it. They are Roger E. A. Arndt and Peter Kitanidis. Roger Arndt is still at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, and Peter Kitanidis is now a Professor of Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology at Stanford University in California. The first and second award winners, Hugo Fisher and William Sayer, are deceased.

The theses submitted for consideration for the Straub Award are reviewed by an Award Selection Committee. This Committee consists of one or two members from the University of Minnesota, and two other members consisdered outstanding in their field from other universities. The members of the committee usually serve for three-year terms.