Paul Westerhoff receives 2021 Jankowski Legacy Award

Since joining the faculty of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University in 1995, Regents Professor Paul Westerhoff has had a distinguished career of research, education and leadership. Among the many accolades he has earned throughout his career, Westerhoff was most recently named the 2021 recipient of the Daniel Jankowski Legacy Award.

The Jankowski Legacy Award is one of the highest distinctions a Fulton Schools faculty member can achieve It recognizes engineering faculty members with unparalleled contributions to education, research and public service with longstanding, demonstrated impact on advancing the mission and values of the Fulton Schools.

“It is truly heartening to see Paul honored with the Jankowski Legacy Award, recognizing decades of intellectual contributions that have significantly advanced the field of water quality and treatment,” says Ram Pendyala, the current director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, one of the six Fulton Schools. “The legacy that he has created through the numerous students who now serve as distinguished faculty members and scholars in their own right is simply astounding, and speaks volumes about his dedication to the advancement of students and the future of our profession.”

Westerhoff, who is the Fulton Chair of Environmental Engineering, has held leadership positions in the Fulton Schools and across the ASU enterprise. He was previously the chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and was the founding director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment from 2008 to 2009. Additionally, he has served as both the associate dean for research and the vice dean for research and innovation in the Fulton Schools. Westerhoff also held the position of vice provost for academic research programming at ASU and was the senior advisor to the provost for engineering and sciences.

Westerhoff’s research in water quality has earned him the distinguished 2019 Clarke Prize Laureate title by the National Water Research Institute along with being named an International Water Association Fellow in 2018.

Westerhoff directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Center for the Life Cycle of Nanomaterials, or LCnano, that studies the lifecycles of nanomaterials and their impacts on the environment and human health.

He is also the deputy director of the National Science Foundation-supported NanoSystems Engineering Research Center for NanoEnabled Water Treatment Technologies known as NEWT that is developing technologies to provide clean water to millions of people across the country.

Westerhoff joins a long line of dedicated and enthusiastic engineering educators who have won the Jankowski Legacy Award.

“I was given a link to others who have won this award, and am super excited to be considered in that same group of faculty,” says Westerhoff. “I have been at ASU a long time and had the fortune of knowing Dan some and know all the prior honorees.”

Given every two years, the Jankowski Legacy Award was established to honor Professor Jankowski’s distinguished 40-year academic career. Jankowski started his career with ASU in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which later became the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Jankowski, who retired in 2004, passed away in November 2020.

“His recent passing makes me think how short life is, but that we all can make impacts in many different ways,” says Westerhoff. “Dan gave me some great advice, as an elder sage, when I joined ASU and various times in his associate dean roles. It really made me feel part of a ‘team,’ and [that] is something I tried to stay true to when I worked in the dean’s office.”