John D. Bredehoeft

Citation

The award for Distinguished Service is presented to John D. Bredehoeft (pictured here) in recognition of his outstanding service to the hydrogeology community and of his groundbreaking contributions to the science of hydrogeology. John has served the hydrogeology community through a diverse range of activities. He has chaired the Hydrogeology Division of GSA. As editor-in-chief of Ground Water, he provided visionary leadership that made Ground Water the journal of choice not only in North America, but worldwide. He contributed his expertise and wisdom to scientific advisory committees for the National Research Council, for the national laboratories, and for various other federal agencies. As a senior manager in the Water Resources Division of the U.S. Geological Survey, he implemented far-sighted decisions to hire new talents and to increase the amount of scientific research. He mentored many graduate students who have gone on to become leaders in the field of hydrogeology.

John and his co-authors published numerous papers that are widely recognized as seminal contributions to the science. His quantitative analyses of fluid flow established the crucial role of fluids in geologic processes such as sediment compaction, earthquake, tectonism, and heat flow. His studies of regional flow in sedimentary basins showed the importance of confining layers in the development of anomalous fluid pressure. He was a pioneer in computer modeling; the fact that groundwater modeling is now an everyday tool owes a great deal to John’s advocacy. His work to couple economic management models with groundwater models was another pioneering contribution that crossed traditional discipline boundaries. John wrote on diverse topics such as ground-water depletion, conjunctive use, artificial recharge, and nuclear waste storage. These contributions attest to his stature as a leader on water resources issues of national and international importance.

This award is given in honor of Burke Maxey. Bredehoeft is a disciple of Burke Maxey; Maxey was his advisor for both his Masters and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois. In 1995 John Bredehoeft established the consulting firm, The HydroDynamics Group; he has been a consultant since then. He devoted the previous 32 years to public service at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). In the tradition of the USGS, Bredehoeft held positions in both research and high level management. For five years in the 1970s, he managed the USGS National Water Research Program. In the early 1980s, he was the Regional Hydrologist, Western Region, where he supervised the Survey’s water activities in the eight western states—Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. In 1994, Bredehoeft retired as a senior research geologist from the Water Resources Division of the USGS.

Bredehoeft taught one year as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois. He was a consulting professor at Stanford for 8 years, and at the University of California—Santa Cruz, and San Francisco State University for several years. He served on numerous national advisory committees for the National Research Council, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Energy.

He received numerous awards, among them: member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering; Editor of Ground Water (1991-95); the Horton Award and the Horton Medal of the American Geophysical Union; the Meinzer Award and the Penrose Medal of GSA; life-member of the National Ground Water Association; foreign associate of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

For his tireless effort to serve the community and his extraordinary achievements in advancing the science, the Hydrogeology Division presents John Bredehoeft with the Distinguished Service Award for 2003.

Photograph: Dr. John Bredehoft (center) was presented the GSA Distinguished Service Award for 2003 by out going Division Chair Bob Ritzi (right), and incoming Chair Chris Neuzil (left). Photo by Ed Harvey.