Walter Royal Lynn (born Valdimir Royal Lynn; 1 October 1928 – 6 June 2011) was a distinguished

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

for most of his academic career. As a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

he was interested in water-quality issues, he was at the forefront of

environmental studies Environmental studies (EVS or EVST) is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human behavior, human interaction with the Natural environment, environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sci ...

. According to one obituary, he coined the term "sustainability." Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and raised in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Lynn earned a B.S. in civil engineering at

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

(1950), M.S. in sanitary engineering at

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

(1954), and a PhD at

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

(1963). He joined the Cornell faculty in 1961. At Cornell, Lynn was the founder and director of Cornell's Center for Environmental Quality Management (1966–1976). He was also Director of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (1970–1978), director of the Center for the Environment (1996–1997), and director of the Science, Technology & Society program (1980–1988). He was an elected faculty member of the Cornell Board of Trustees (1980–1985) and Dean of the Faculty (1988–1993). After retiring, he served as Ombudsman of the university (approx. 1999-2011). Lynn was also active on many government committees, at local, state, and national levels. He was Mayor of the village of Cayuga Heights from 2002 to 2008. Obituaries for Lynn appeared in the ''Ithaca Journal'', ''Cornell Daily Sun'', and ''Cornell Chronicle''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynn, Walter 1928 births 2011 deaths American civil engineers University of Miami College of Engineering alumni University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Northwestern University alumni Cornell University faculty