NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Frank L. Parker has received the 2003 Wendell D. Weart Lifetime Achievement in Nuclear Waste Management Award.
The award, which is sponsored by Sandia National Laboratory, recognizes outstanding professional contributions to solving nuclear waste management problems.
“Professor Parker is one of the most highly respected leaders in the world in the nuclear waste management field, and his expertise is unparalleled,” said David S. Kosson, chair of civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt. “His achievements have made a tremendous difference to citizens in this country, worldwide and particularly in Eastern Europe who have been affected by the nuclear legacy of the Cold War.”
Parker, Distinguished Professor of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering, was selected for the honor by the Waste Management Symposium Board, which cited his “long and productive service in pursuit of safe and technically sound solutions to the disposal of nuclear waste.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s and doctorate from Harvard University, Parker served as head of Radioactive Waste Disposal Research for the International Atomic Energy Agency. At Vanderbilt, he initially concentrated on thermal pollution and water resources problems, but in recent years he has focused on radioactive and hazardous chemical waste problems, particularly in the former Soviet Union.
Media contact: David Salisbury, 615-343-6803, >david.salisbury@vanderbilt.edu</a>