William W-G. Yeh, Distinguished Professor, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). Yeh is one of 65 new members and nine foreign associates who were elected to the NAE on February 8, 2008.

Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature," and to the "pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."

Yeh was elected to the NAE for his work on the development of methodologies for optimizing the management of water resources, and for inverse methods of estimating subsurface parameters. Yeh pioneered the development of large-scale optimization models that utilize systems analysis techniques to plan, manage, and operate several of the nation's large-scale water resources systems. The methodology as well as the algorithms that he developed for the real-time operation of complex, multiple-purpose, multiple-reservoir systems have been adopted in the US and throughout the world, most notably in Brazil, Canada, Korea, Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China. Additionally, Yeh pioneered the development of nonlinear inverse algorithms for parameter identification in groundwater hydrology. He founded the field of inverse modeling in subsurface hydrology. The methodologies and algorithms that Yeh developed for parameter estimation have been widely adopted in groundwater modeling.

Yeh's work has earned him distinction nationally and internationally. In 1989, he received the American Geophysical Union's Robert E. Horton Award, now known as the Hydrological Sciences Award. In 1993, Yeh was elected a Fellow of the AGU. In 1994, Yeh received the American Society of Civil Engineers' Julian Hinds Award. In 1996, Yeh was awarded Honorary Membership by the ASCE for his "distinguished career as a scholar in education and private practice in the fields of water resources engineering and groundwater hydrology." Finally, in 1999, Yeh received the Warren A. Hall Medal from the Universities Council on Water Resources for his "unusual accomplishments and distinction in the water resources field."

Yeh has made major contributions to the profession through his service to ASCE and AGU, including serving as Editor of the ASCE Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (1988-1993). Yeh received his BS from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan; his MS from New Mexico State University; and his PhD from Stanford University; all in Civil Engineering. Since joining UCLA in 1967, Yeh has served on the UCLA faculty in several capacities, including twice as Department Chair (1985-1988 and 2002-2007). In 1975 he received the UCLA Engineering Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award for excellence in teaching. To date, he has graduated 48 PhD students. Many of his former PhD students are now successful teachers, researchers, and practicing engineers at various distinguished institutions and industries in the United States and abroad.

To view a UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering News Release, please go to http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/news/2008/NAE2008.htm.