Fitting Choice Of M. Sivapalan As UIUC Endowed Professor

By Ciaran Harman -April 30, 2015

Dr. Ciaran Harman

I’ve been asked say some words on the topic of “Why Professor Sivapalan?”

I am a former PhD student of Siva, as he is known to his friends. It might seem unconventional for Siva to ask someone so young and untenured to give this kind of address. Shouldn’t a more senior colleague be appropriate? Someone whose own long history of awards and recognition would impress upon you all Siva’s worthiness for the position of endowed chair. But to those of us who know him, this choice is quite typical of Siva.

Now, senior colleagues have given this kind of introduction in the past: Siva has been well-recognized by his peers for his intellectual contributions, and for his leadership. He has received the “grand slam” of hydrology awards: the Dalton Medal from the European Geosciences Union, the Horton Medal from the American Geophysical Union, and the International Hydrology Prize from UNESCO. He is one of only three people to have won all three awards. Perhaps in choosing a former student this time, he just thought he’d shake things up a little. That would be quite typical.

*Photo – Dean Cangellaris congratulating Professor Sivapalan

To understand why Siva is so highly regarded, you need to understand a little history. Hydrology has, in large part, focused on solving important practical problems, like knowing how much drinking water we can reliably draw from a dam, or a well.

But for some, hydrologic science is something more.

The transformation of falling rain into a surging river is, for them, the result of a vast network of interactions in the landscape: rock and soil, hills and valleys, heat and light, plants and people. This network is renewed and revised with each storm, and with each drought. It creates the hydrologic system, and is sustained by it. Hydrologic scientists have sought to understand this system deeply.       Read More