Bruce Dvorak, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, the inaugural Ray Fauss Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he has made significant contributions to research, outreach, and teaching, has been named a fellow by the ASCE Board of Direction.
A central focus of Dvorak’s research and outreach is to provide technical assistance to aid municipal drinking water, wastewater systems, and manufacturers with solutions to improve their energy efficiency and sustainability. Since 1995, he has received 104 research and outreach grants from external agencies, totaling over $13.4 million, and has published in 63 refereed journal articles (15 of which are ASCE journals), four book chapters, and 39 Extension guides.
Dvorak developed and helps lead the UNL-based Nebraska Industrial Assessment Center (NIAC) and Partners in Pollution Prevention (P3) program. These programs train students to perform assessments to help improve the sustainability of municipal wastewater plants and manufacturers. Over the past 25 years, the P3 program has assisted 833 clients and helped Nebraska businesses save $93 million dollars through waste reduction and resource conservation. In the past seven years, the NIAC has assisted 92 clients with over $23.3 million in annual cost savings realized by the clients, and over 120,000 MTCO2e of annual greenhouse gas reductions. In recognition of its societal benefits, NIAC was selected as the 2023 Center of the Year by the U.S. Department of Energy.
An example of his originality and creativity, one of Dvorak’s co-authored papers was selected for the ASCE 2009 Samuel Arnold Greeley Award. This is for the ASCE paper that makes the most valuable contribution to the environmental engineering profession related to the design, construction, or operation of water supply, pollution control, storm drainage or solid waste collection and disposal facilities. Many of Dvorak’s recent publications focus on using the data from sustainability assessments to perform life-cycle assessments to quantify benefits from changes to improve the design and operations for small wastewater treatment plants.
Since joining UNL in 1994, Dvorak has served as the primary advisor to six Ph.D. students, 56 MS students, and as an academic advisor to over 350 undergraduate civil and environmental engineering students. He provided instrumental leadership for proposing and implementing the new BS in Environmental Engineering degree at UNL, which started in the fall of 2022. He was voted by the UNL College of Engineering students as the recipient of the 2019 Tau Beta Pi Teaching Award, and received the 2022 UNL Engineering Excellence in Teaching Award based on driving curricular improvements in the preparation of students for the FE exam. Nationally, he serves as an ABET Program Evaluator for Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering.
Currently, Dvorak serves as the Secretary for the Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects, and is chair of the NCEES Engineering Education Award Committee. He served as a member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA) Board of Directors for 2016-2019 and was selected for the George Warren Fuller Award for service by AWWA in 2013.
