REFLECTIONS ON THE O.E. MEINZER AWARD

The Hydrogeology Division’s O.E. Meinzer Award is widely acknowledged to be one of the most prestigious awards in hydrogeology. The award was first presented in 1965 to József Tóth for his landmark paper on regional flow system analysis (A theoretical analysis of groundwater flow in small drainage basins: Journal of Geophysical Research 1963). For many years, the award was given in recognition of a significant paper or body of work published during the previous five years. In the 1980s, the rules were changed to remove the five year time limit, allowing for recognition of career contributions. Since 1965, a total of 51 individuals have been recognized, either individually or as co-authors (http://gsahydrodiv.unl.edu/OEMeinzerDataBase.asp).

The award is named in memory of Oscar Edward Meinzer (1876-1948), who was Chief of the Ground Water Division of the U.S. Geological Survey from 1912 until his retirement in 1946. Meinzer valued interdisciplinary work and assembled geologists and engineers, including C.V. Theis and C.E. Jacob, to conduct field investigations and advance groundwater theory. Meinzer, himself, wrote 110 technical articles on a wide variety of topics. He had a remarkable ability to synthesize ideas and draw important conclusions about processes. His most significant publication is his 1928 paper on aquifer compressibility (Compressibility and elasticity of artesian aquifers: Economic Geology).

The Meinzer Award papers capture the history of hydrogeological research (for citations and acceptance statements see: http://gsahydrodiv.unl.edu/OEMeinzerPDFList.htm). During the period 1965 – 1974, the award winning papers focused on understanding groundwater flow and well hydraulics. The 1975 award to John Bredehoeft and George Pinder shifted the focus to transport analysis (Mass transport in flowing groundwater: Water Resources Research 1973). Later awards recognized contributions on timely topics such as stochastic analysis, flow in fractured rock, age dating, tracers, parameter estimation, and aquifer remediation. Five Meinzer Award papers were included in a recent collection of Benchmark Papers in groundwater hydrology. We can expect that future Meinzer papers will continue to highlight the important achievements in our field.