Edward J. Cleary Award

Nominations for the 2023 AAEES Awards are now open.
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The Cleary Award is given to an individual who is an outstanding performer in the management of environmental protection enterprises conducted under either public or private auspices and has demonstrated exemplary professional conduct, personal leadership, originality in devising new environmental protection techniques, and sensitivity and responsiveness to social, economic, and political factors in environmental protection.

For the full list of eligibility criteria and information on how you can submit nominations for a worthy Environmental Engineer or Environmental Scientist, click here.

2022 Edward J. Cleary Award Recipient

Paul F. Boulos, Ph.D., BCEEM, Hon.D.WRE, Dist.D.NE, Dist.M.ASCE, NAE

Paul is an award-winning business executive and philanthropist, and a world’s foremost authority in water resources engineering. He has held senior executive leadership roles in multi-million- and multi-billion-dollar companies including MWH Global, Stantec, Innovyze, and Digital Water Works.

Professionally, Paul has co-authored ten authoritative textbooks and over 200 technical papers. He has made a transformative impact in the water industry with innovative solutions for optimizing the resilience and sustainability of water and wastewater infrastructure systems and advancing the development of sustainable water programs. His software became an industry standard worldwide.

Paul has been committed to the welfare of young people and led fundraising initiatives that raised over $100 million for higher education. Among his many involvements, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American University and the Rene Moawad Foundation and on several nonprofit boards including AMIDEAST and A Precious Child.

A passionate voice for the next generation of engineers, Paul served as President of AAWRE and ACOPNE; Chairman of NAE’s Center of Engineering, Ethics and Society; on the ASCE’s Industry Leaders Council; and on advisory boards of many civil and environmental engineering schools where he established student scholarships.

Paul was recognized with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and numerous awards for lifetime achievement, for distinguished community service, for excellence in scholarship, and for excellence in business and profession. He was inducted into the University of Kentucky Hall of Distinction and elected to the NAE and to the grade of Distinguished Member of ASCE.

Past Winners