About Dr. Larry Mays, PE

Dr. Larry Mays earned his bachelor and master of science degrees in civil engineering from Missouri S&T in 1970 and 1971, respectively. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1976 after serving in the military. After 13 years at the University of Texas at Austin, where he rose from assistant professor to professor to director of the Center for Research in Water Resources, Larry joined Arizona State University (ASU). Over the past 27 years there he has served as department chair and as professor of civil and environmental engineering. Mays’ research has focused on the optimal design and operation of water infrastructure systems. He has been the author, co-author or editor-in-chief of 24 books, including the textbooks, Applied Hydrology; Hydrosystems Engineering and Management; Water Resources Engineering; and Groundwater Hydrology. He has supervised to completion 34 Ph.D. students, published over 115 refereed journal articles, another 100 proceedings papers, and authored or co-authored over 70 chapters in books for which he was the editor-in-chief. Expanding his interest in ancient water systems, Mays has traveled the world photographing them and developed the book, Ancient Water Technologies and co-edited the book The Evolution of Water Supply through the Millennia. He has done volunteer work or been a consultant to the UN, the World Bank, Texas Attorney General’s Office, AWWA, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others. He is a fellow member of ASCE, the International Water Resources Association, and the International Water Association. In addition, he has won several national and international awards in engineering including the ASCE Julian Hinds Award, the Prince Sultan bin Abdulazizz International Prize for Water – Surface Water Prize and the Warren Hall Medal from UCOWR.
 
Mays has three children, helped in Boy Scouts and little league, backpacked Alaska, and loves snow skiing, fly-fishing, welding, scuba diving, photography, and traveling the world. He and his wife, Susi, share their time between Mesa, Ariz., and Pagosa Springs, Colo.