Biographical Statements: Speakers
and Moderators
Dr. Rafael L. BRAS
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT
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Prof. Rafael Bras
Bacardi and Stockholm Water Foundations
Professor
Civil & Environ. Engineering MIT
Bldg. 48-213
Cambridge, MA 02139
USA
Tel: +1 617 2532117
Fax: +1 617 253-4546
E-mail: rlbras@mit.edu, ech@mit.edu
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Dr. Rafael L. Bras is one of the leading hydrologists in the world.
One of his greatest innovations was uniting hydrology with probability
and statistics to improve forecasting and risk estimation. His rainfall
and spatially distributed runoff models have significantly advanced
river-flow forecasting and flood estimation. Other areas of groundbreaking
research are: monitoring network design, land-atmosphere interactions,
the impact of deforestation on local and regional climate, the evolution
of landscapes over short and long time scales and non-linear phenomena
and self organization in hydrologic processes. Dr. Bras has written
two hydrology textbooks and edited several others. He has published
over 130 papers in refereed journals.
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dr. Bras is the
Bacardi and Stockholm Water Foundations Professor and Chair of the MIT
Faculty. He is the former head of the Civil Engineering and Environmental
Department. Dr. Bras is a member of the National Academy of Engineering
and a corresponding member of the National Academy of Engineering in
Mexico. Dr. Bras is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the
American Meteorological Society and the American Society of Civil Engineers.
He was Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of AGU's Macelwane medal. Dr.
Bras holds and honorary degree from the University of Perugia in Italy.
A native of Puerto Rico, he was recently elected to the Hispanics Hall
of Fame in the United States..
Dr. Bras is an international consultant. Over the last eight years
he has served as the chairman of an international panel that provides
oversight to the design and construction of tidal gates to protect the
city of Venice against flooding.
Dr. Bras has published two textbooks, over 135 refereed journal publications,
and several hundred other publications and presentations.
