The Walter R. Lynn Environmental and Water Resources Systems M.Eng. Award

Image of Professor Walter Lynn smiling with white dog at his feet on a leash

The late Professor Walter Lynn was internationally well-known for his application of systems analysis methods to wastewater treatment plant design and financing. Thanks to an anonymous donor who has provided funds to establish and endow the Walter R. Lynn Environmental and Water Resources Systems Master of Engineering award, the remembrance of Lynn’s research and work will continue.

Lynn pioneered research in applying systems analysis methods for wastewater treatment plant design and financing during the 1960s. Under Lynn’s direction Cornell’s leadership in Environmental and Water Resource Systems (EWRS) began. The challenge at the time was how to move beyond the evaluation and planning of individual projects. With the introduction of computers, algorithms for solving more complex problems, and a new systems engineering mentality that sought to understand the world on a larger scale, engineers—for the first time—could look at multi-interdependent component systems and their combined performance. 

The Walter R. Lynn Environmental and Water Resources Systems M.Eng. Award provides financial support to students enrolled in the Civil and Environmental Engineering M.Eng. Program.

Make a gift in memory of Professor Emeritus Walter R. Lynn