Mirat D. Gurol

Mirat D. Gurol

Mirat D. Gurol is Emeritus Professor, San Diego State University. She was the Blasker Professor of Environmental Engineering at San Diego State University, a position assumed in 1997 after serving at Drexel University in Philadelphia for seventeen years as a faculty member in the Departments of Civil and Chemical Engineering, and the School of Environmental Science, Engineering and Policy. Dr. Gurol has received her degrees in Environmental Engineering and Sciences from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Ph.D, 1980; M.S., 1977), and in Chemical Engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (B.S., 1973).

Dr. Gurol’s academic interest is focused on treatment technologies of contaminated water, air and soil and of hazardous wastes. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Environmental Engineering Unit Operations, Reaction Kinetics, Mass Transfer, Reactor Design, Hazardous Waste Management, Remediation, Environmental Chemistry and Transport of Environmental Pollutants. Her research efforts are concentrated on ozonation, photochemical and catalytic oxidation processes for removal of environmental pollutants from contaminated water, air and soil. Dr. Gurol has directed several research projects as principal investigator funded by National Science Foundation, Environmental Protection Agency, American Water Works Association Research Foundation, and private industries. She has published over 50 scientific articles, and supervised over 30 graduate students on their research projects as their principal advisor.

She is the recipient of the 1980 “Best Ph.D Dissertation Award” of the Association of Environmental Engineering Professors and Nalco Chemical, the 1981 “Research Scholar Award” of Drexel University, and the 1987 “Best Research Paper Award” for a paper published in the Journal of the American Water Works Association. Her students received numerous awards, including 1998 and 1989 “First Place, Academic Achievement Award for a Ph.D Dissertation” presented by the American Water Works Association, the 1994 “Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award” co-sponsored by the Association of Environmental Engineering Professors and Engineering Science, “Prix Hallopeau Award” presented by International Ozone Association and the 1988 “Best Research Paper Award” presented by the American Chemical Society. She and one of her students are the owners of a patent on a chemical oxidation process.

Dr. Gurol is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Ozone Science & Technology, a member of the Blasker Award Committee, a consultant to the Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Institute, and the Istanbul Water and Sewerage Administration in Turkey. She has also served as a consultant for the National Academy of Sciences on health effects of disinfectants. She has full-time consulting experience acquired during her employment at Roy. F. Weston, Inc, and continues to serve as a consultant to several industrial and consulting firms on physical and chemical treatment technologies. She is on the review panels of several funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency, and serves on several committees of American Water Works Association. She is a member of the Association of Environmental Engineering Professors, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, International Ozone Association, American Chemical Society, International Association on Water Quality, American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, and Sigma Xi. She was appointed a CCST Fellow in 2008.