Professor Spyros G. Pavlostathis was honored by the International Water Association (IWA) by being named to the organization's inaugural class of Fellows.
Dr. Pavlostathis is is a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) of 
the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and a recognized expert in the areas of environmental biotechnology and bioprocess engineering for the remediation of contaminated natural systems and the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater, and the kinetics and modeling of biotransformation and biotreatment processes. His recent work has focused on the bioavailability, fate and biotransformation of recalcitrant organic compounds, such as dyes, pesticides, antioxidants, disinfectants, and antibiotics; the biotransformation of emerging environmental contaminants, such as nitrosamines, and naphthenic acids; bioenergy and biofuels production from biomass and waste streams; as well as the development of halophilic and thermophilic microbial processes.
In 2010, the IWA Board of Directors instituted the IWA Fellows Program to recognize the professional excellence of its members. The purpose of the program is to acknowledge members who have made a distinguished contribution to the field of water science, technology and management and solicit their help in continuing this work by acting as active ambassadors of the organization.
After a vigorous nomination and selection process, thirty-five members were selected to receive this prestigious honor for the first time in the organization's history. The inaugural class of IWA Fellows includes:
- Harro Bode, Germany
- Paul Brown, USA
- David Butler, UK
- Cloete South, Africa
- Francisco Luis Cubillo, Spain
- Shigeo Fujii, Japan
- Naoyuki Funamizu, Japan
- Hiroaki Furumai, Japan
- Charles P. Gerba, USA
- Steve Hrudey, Canada
- Sadahiko Itoh, Japan
- David Jenkins, USA
- Blanca Jimenez, Mexico
- Jurg Keller, Australia
- In S. Kim, Korea
- Walter Kling, Austria
- Piet Lens, Netherlands
- Shang-Lien Lo, Taiwan
- Yoji Matsui, Japan
- Sudhir Murthy, USA
- Krishna Pagilla, USA
- Dayanand Panse, India
- Spyros G. Pavlostathis, USA
- Maria Reis, Portugal
- Joan Rose, USA
- Julian Sandino, USA
- Dragan Savic, UK
- Michael Storey, Australia
- Hiroaki Tanaka, Japan
- Mark van Loosdrecht, Netherlands
- Peter Vanrolleghem, Canada
- Vigid Vigneswaran, Australia
- Kazuo Yamamoto, Japan
- Zhiguo Yuan, Australia
A special reception to honor the newly elected Fellows was organized during the IWA World Congress & Exhibition in Montreal in late 2010. Each received a certificate and IWA Fellows pin to distinguish this group of individuals among IWA’s membership. In addition to the reception, all IWA Fellows were showcased on the IWA Fellows Awards Panel and the IWA Hall of Fame in the Congress center. Fellows will also be presented in the 2011 IWA Yearbook as well as the December issue of Water21.
The International Water Association serves as a global reference point for water professionals, spanning the continuum between research and practice and covering all facets of the water cycle. Through its network of members and experts in research, practice, regulation, industry, consulting and manufacturing, IWA is positioned to help water professionals create innovative, pragmatic and sustainable solutions to challenging global needs. The organization is represented in 130 different countries through its 10,000 individual and 500 corporate members. For additional information about IWA, visit: http://www.iwahq.org/home/.