Professor Lutgarde Raskin was officially inducted today into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), one of the highest honors for an academic scientist or engineer. She is the Vernon L. Snoeyink Distinguished University Professor of Environmental Engineering and Altarum/ERIM Russell O’Neal Professor of Engineering and has been a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) since 2005.
“I am honored and proud to have received this recognition from my peers, and I am deeply indebted to my mentors, current and former students and postdocs, and collaborators at the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and around the world,” said Raskin.
Raskin received undergraduate and master’s degrees from the KU Leuven, Belgium, and a PhD degree in environmental engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she served on the faculty for 12 years before joining U-M. She served the CEE department as graduate chair, a member of the executive committee and director of the Environmental and Water Resources Engineering program. Recently, she was welcomed at U-M’s Rackham Graduate School as associate dean for academic programs and initiatives.
Raskin is a pioneer in molecular microbial ecology applied to water quality control and anaerobic bioprocesses. She is globally recognized as an expert in microbial aspects of anaerobic waste treatment and drinking water treatment technologies. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed journal papers and 400 conference proceedings papers and abstracts.
“It is a great honor for us to count Lut as a colleague. Entry to the NAE is entirely based on one’s impact on the field, and her pioneering research in microbiology has solved complex challenges in environmental engineering which have provided cleaner water to society while transforming our discipline,” said Jerome Lynch, the Donald Malloure Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Throughout her career, Raskin has received many awards, including the International Society for Microbial Ecology – International Water Association BioCluster Award, the Paul L. Busch Award for Innovation in Applied Water Quality Research from the Water Research Foundation and the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professor Frontier Award in Research. She is an Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, the International Water Association and the Water Environment Federation.
Raskin is passionate about graduate education and has mentored approximately 20 postdocs and 100 graduate students, including 27 doctoral students. She was awarded the U-M Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award in 2017 for her outstanding service in this capacity.
The National Academy of Engineering is a private, non-profit institution that serves to provide engineering leadership and guidance for the betterment of the nation. Those who are elected to join the NAE are recognized for their diligence and dedication to improving their communities through their expertise in their fields.
Glen Diagger, CEE professor and also a member of the NAE, provided a kind welcome to Raskin: “Lut has been a treasured colleague and eminent environmental engineer for quite some time. I am so pleased to see that her unique contributions are being recognized worldwide.”
The NAE has more than 2,000 peer-elected members who are among the world’s most accomplished engineers and leaders of technological advancement. Raskin is among the 106 new members and 23 international members that have been recently announced. She is now one of 36 NAE members at the University of Michigan.
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