Roseanna M. Neupauer News

Remembering Hari Rajaram—a legacy of intellect, humility and warmth

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 18:41:49 +0000

Remembering Hari Rajaram—a legacy of intellect, humility and warmth Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/18/2024 - 12:41

Susan Glairon

Photo caption: The ɫ��ֱ�� Water Group at Hari Rajaram's 2018 going-away party. From left to right, Joseph Kasprzyk, John Crimaldi, Rajagopalan Balaji, Edie Zagona, Hari Rajaram and Roseanna Neupauer. Photo courtesy Roseanna Neupauer.

Hari Rajaram, a beloved former faculty member in ɫ��ֱ��’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (CEAE), died unexpectedly on July 4 at his home in Baltimore. He was 59 years old.

Rajaram was globally recognized as a prominent figure in the field of environmental and Earth systems, known for his innovative use of mathematical models to understand and predict complex environmental phenomena. He was also a world-renowned expert in hydrology.

In the department, he was affectionately called the “historian” for his phenomenal memory and revered for his methodical, well-organized teaching likened to a “precisely orchestrated symphony.” He was celebrated not just as a researcher, but also as an exceptional teacher, mentor, friend and role model.

“Hari was that rare individual who combined strong intellect with humility and warmth,” said CEAE Professor Rajagopalan Balaji. “He had an attitude of selfless service, remained even tempered and empathetic and was an all-around wonderful human being.”

Balaji shared that he frequently met with Rajaram during his tenure as department chair (2014-2022), “to seek his thoughtful counsel.”

“Hari consistently advocated for and championed quality over quantity, providing an important voice,” he said.

Professor Emerita JoAnn Silverstein, who worked with Rajaram for 20 years, highlighted his impact during her eight years as department chair (2002 – 2010) when Rajaram served as the associate chair.

"Hari led numerous challenging tasks in service of the department, and I can’t recall any contentious issue that he could not resolve with his empathy, insight and sense of humor," she said. "That Hari embodied all the best facets of academic life was a source of inspiration to me and countless others."

CEAE Professor Roseanna Neupauer, who first met Rajaram when they were graduate students at MIT, echoed Silverstein's and Balaji’s sentiments.

“Hari had absolutely no ego and possessed a strong desire to uplift his community and every individual. With his clarity of mind to see the big picture, he approached contentious issues with a calm demeanor, grace and diplomacy, offering well-reasoned solutions that everyone could agree on. He was an outstanding teacher, patient and encouraging with all his students.”

Balaji said Rajaram was the search committee chair who recruited him, and later Neupauer.

“He is the reason we ended up at CU,” Balaji said.

A distinguished career

Rajaram (back/center) stopped by Balaji's (right) home in July 2022 when he was driving his son, Vinu, to Berkeley to start his PhD. Balaji's uncle (left), daughters and Vinu are also pictured. Photo courtesy Rajagopalan Balaji.

At ɫ��ֱ��, Rajaram was hired as an assistant professor in 1993 and rose to the rank as a professor of civil engineering in 2004, also serving as the department’s associate chair from 2006-2008. He received numerous teaching awards, including being named a President’s Teaching Scholar —the highest teaching honor in the CU system. He won nearly every award in the CEAE department from research to outstanding teaching.

Also while at ɫ��ֱ��, Rajaram received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (1998), collaborated with many CEAE faculty on various projects and served as the editor of the premier journal “Water Resources Research'' from 2013-2017.

In 2018, Rajaram moved to the Johns Hopkins Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and had served as deputy chair since that time. He was the editor-in-chief of “Geophysical Research Letters” from 2019 until his passing, and he was recently elected as Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

Rajaram began his academic journey at the Indian Institute of Technology, in Madras, where he earned a Bachelor of Technology. He later pursued his MS at the University of Iowa. In 1991, he obtained his PhD in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following his doctoral studies, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University in the Department of Civil Engineering and Operations Research.

Neupauer shared a story from their time together as graduate students at MIT.

“About 10 years ago, a group of ɫ��ֱ�� graduate students taking classes from both Hari and me discovered that when Hari and I were graduate students at MIT, we were finalists in an Irish jig competition at our lab's St. Patrick's Day party. When they asked Hari about the competition, he claimed he couldn't remember who won,” Neupauer said.

“Of course, this meant that Hari had won—because he never forgot anything and wouldn't want to brag,” she said.

Balaji also called Rajaram’s memory “phenomenal.”

“In almost all the conversations he brought a relevant historical perspective,” he said. “Even in technical discussions he would quote classic papers to offer richer insights. This was uniquely and quintessentially Hari.

"I will miss him.”

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Roseanna Neupauer elected fellow of ASCE

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 21:04:04 +0000

Roseanna Neupauer elected fellow of ASCE Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/13/2023 - 15:04

Professor Roseanna Neupauer was elected fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) for celebrated contributions and developing creative solutions that change lives around the world. Only three percent of ASCE members hold this prestigious honor.

Neupauer’s specialization is groundwater modeling. Her research focuses on the development and application of novel groundwater modeling tools for groundwater flow and solute and heat transport. Recent and ongoing projects include active spreading strategies for improved groundwater remediation, formation of icings in Arctic rivers, characterization of stream depletion due to groundwater pumping, and protection of source water from thermal pollution near geothermal energy systems. She has been on the faculty at the ɫ��ֱ�� since 2005. Prior to joining ɫ��ֱ��, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Virginia from 2001 to 2004.

Civil Engineering Source article 09.29.2023

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Neupauer recognized with Margaret S. Petersen Award

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 17:03:20 +0000

Neupauer recognized with Margaret S. Petersen Award Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/02/2022 - 10:03

Erica McNamee

Professor Roseanna Neupauer has been awarded the Margaret S. Petersen award for her work in hydrology and groundwater systems.

The honor is for “pioneering development and dissemination of engaging and effective pedagogy, inspiring and dedicated mentorship, impactful research in modeling of groundwater systems, and tireless leadership in the water resources education and engineering communities” as stated in the congratulatory email.

Neupauer recalls receiving this email late at night on January 13.

“I just thought before I go to bed I would check my email and the subject was ‘ASCE congratulates you on your award’,” Neupauer said. “I saw the subject and I was pretty sure what it was for. But when I opened it up and read it, it was really exciting to me.”

Neupauer currently teaches groundwater, hydraulics and groundwater modeling civil engineering courses. Her research includes finding ways to improve remediation of contaminated groundwater, studying arctic groundwater, well water research and geothermal energy systems.

“Water is really one of the most critical aspects of human life,” Neupauer said. “We often take it for granted,” Neupauer said. “We should appreciate that we have enough water right now for our needs, but recognize that we have to take care of it. We can’t waste it and we have to be prepared for times when we might not have it.”

The award was created in honor of Margaret Petersen, a pathfinder in the field of hydraulics and water resource engineering. The award specifically recognizes women who have exhibited exemplary service to the water resources and environmental science and engineering community and who are members of the American Society of Civil Engineers or Environmental and Water Resource Institute.

The award may be made annually. Neupauer is the ninth recipient of the award after it was first established in 2011.

“Some of the early winners were really well known hydrologists that have made lots of contributions to the field,” Neupauer said. “It’s humbling to be in the company of those few.”

Neupauer acknowledged the support and encouragement of colleagues Amy Chan Hilton and Teresa Culver for nominating her for the award. Her nomination was supported by letters of recommendation by Professor and Department Chair Balaji Rajagopalan, Professor JoAnn Silverstein and Professor Joe Kasprzyk, as well as former students Jack Greene and Amy Piscopo.

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CU researchers contribute to frost quake modeling research

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 17:23:02 +0000

CU researchers contribute to frost quake modeling research Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 11/16/2020 - 10:23

Frost quakes are not particularly rare, but they are harder to observe than traditional earthquakes. Professor Roseanna Neupauer was part of a recent effort to develop new models with the Oulu, Finland, 2016 quake data, the results of which are discussed in a new paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

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