Dennis P. Lettenmaier
Distinguished Professor
Department of Geography
Dennis Lettenmaier is a Distinguished Professor of Geography. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (summa cum laude) at the University of Washington in 1971, his MS in Civil, Mechanical, and Environmental Engineering at the George Washington University in 1973, and his PhD at the University of Washington in 1975. His research interests include hydrological modeling and prediction, hydrologic remote sensing, hydrology-climate interactions, and water management. He served as a University of Washington faculty member from 1976 to 2014, when he joined UCLA’s faculty. In addition to his faculty service, he spent a year as visiting scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Reston, VA (1985-86) and was the program manager of NASA’s Land Surface Hydrology Program at NASA Headquarters in 1997-98. He is an author or co-author of over 350 journal articles. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the European Geosciences Union (EGU), the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the American Association of Geographers (AAG). He is a Fellow of AGU, AMS, and AAAS. He was the first Chief Editor of the AMS Journal of Hydrometeorology, and is a past President of AGU’s Hydrology Section. He was a recipient of ASCE’s Huber Research Prize in 1990, AGU’s Hydrology Section Award in 2000, the AMS Charney Medal in 2017, and AGU’s Horton Medal in 2018, He is a member of the International Water Academy and the National Academy of Engineering.
Education
PhD, Civil Engineering, University of Washington, 1975
MS, Civil, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering, The George Washington University, 1972
BSc, Summa cum laude, Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, 1970
