Water expert Prof. Gedeon Dagan wins Israel Prize

Tel Aviv University’s Prof. Gedeon Dagan has been awarded the Israel Prize in the field of Earth and Atmospheric Science for the year 2012-13. Dagan, a professor emeritus of Hydrology at the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, was recognized for his pivotal research in groundwater hydrology and his founding of the field of stochastic hydrology. He developed quantitative models of water flow and contaminant transport in soil and aquifers that help scientists better understand and predict processes occurring in the upper soil layer, such as irrigation and drainage, and pollution of aquifers.

Prof. Dagan, 80, has published over 170 articles in leading international journals. He is the winner of numerous awards, including the Horton Medal of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Rothschild Prize and the Stockholm Water Prize, the world’s most prestigious water award. Prof. Dagan also held the Raquel and Manuel Klachky Chair in Subsurface Hydrology at TAU.

In recent years Prof. Dagan has served as academic director of the Stockholm Junior Water Competition in Israel. The high-school students, winners of the national competition, participate in the world competition in Stockholm. The competition fosters awareness of water and sustainability issues and promotes training of future specialists in the field. Prof. Dagan introduced the competition in Israel, under the academic auspices of Tel Aviv University. Hundreds of youth have taken part in the competition from throughout Israel to date.