This page is no longer being updated and remains online for informational and historical purposes only. The information is accurate as of the last page update.
For questions about page contents, contact the Communications Division.
Gerald E. Galloway, Jr., secretary of the United States Section of the International Joint Commission, Washington, D.C., will speak on “21st Century Water Issues: Challenges for the Engineer-Leader” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Oechsle Hall room 224.
Free and open to the public, the talk is the 2002-03 Judith M. Resnik Memorial Lecture, which is sponsored by the Farber Memorial Endowment Fund created by the late Jack Farber, a member of Lafayette’s class of 1931. The lectureship was established in memory of Judith A. Resnik, one of the astronauts who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986.
Galloway also will interact with students in the Engineering and Society class taught by Sharon Jones, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and the Water Supply and Pollution Control course led by Art Kney, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering.
“Both the world as a whole and the United States in particular will face serious water resources issues in the first half of the 21st century,” says Galloway. “Water shortages, infrastructure repair backlog, increasing flood damages, water security, losses in natural systems, and drought must all be addressed. The citizens of our nation will call upon engineers to address these issues and the remainder of the world will look to the United States for its expertise and its experience. Engineers must be prepared to deal with the complexity and multidisciplinary nature of these issues, a need to involve stakeholders at all points of the process, and the requirement to carry out these activities within an ecosystem, holistic approach. Engineers must be prepared to lead the way.”
The International Joint Commission prevents and resolves disputes between the U.S. and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and acts as an independent adviser to the two governments on transboundary air and water quality issues. As secretary, Galloway serves as principal administrator of the Washington office of the commission and as senior adviser to the commissioners.
A civil engineer, public administrator, and geographer, Galloway has served as a consultant to the Executive Office of the President and has assisted the U.S. Water Resources Council, World Bank, Organization of American States, TVA, Army Corps of Engineers, and various other organizations in water resources-related activities. From 1988 to 1995, he served as a presidential appointee to the seven-member Mississippi River Commission. From December 1993 to July 1994, he was assigned to the White House to lead the Interagency Floodplain Management Review Committee in assessing the causes of the 1993 Mississippi River floods and in proposing a long-term approach to floodplain management. Since publication of the committee’s report, he testified before several Congressional committees and state legislatures, appeared on national television and radio, and has spoken to numerous organizations in the U.S. and abroad.
Galloway has lectured and written extensively on water resources management. In 1998, he was appointed by President Clinton to serve as a member of his American Heritage Rivers Advisory Committee. As a member of the IJC staff, he was part of teams that prepared the commission’s reports on the disastrous flooding in the Red River of the North in 1997 and the IJC’s report, Protection of the Waters of the Great Lakes, addressing principles to govern management of potential withdrawals of water from the Great Lakes. He is a member of a National Academies panel studying methods and techniques of project analysis and was a member of committees reviewing the scientific basis for adaptive management of the Missouri River and reviewing levee design. He also chaired an academies committee examining logistics requirements of the Army of the future.
A fellow and life member of American Society of Civil Engineers, Galloway is a member of a task group reviewing educational requirements for professional practice. He has served on the ASCE Committee on Standards of Practice, a task force on first professional degree, was chair of the ASCE Committee on Engineering Responsibility, and was a member of the 1985 ASCE Task Force on Federal Water Policy. He was general chair of the 2001 ASCE Environment and Water Resources Institute Conference on Integrated Trans-boundary Water Management. He has been North Atlantic regional vice president for the Society of American Military Engineers and vice chair of SAME’s Education Committee and was elected a fellow in 1996.
From 1989-1990 Galloway was president of the Universities Council on Water Resources, an association of nearly 100 universities and colleges active in water resources research and education. From 1990-1996, he was a councilor of the American Geographical Society and, from 1984-1992, a member of the board of the Hudson River Environmental Society. In 1996 he became a director of Hudson River Foundation. He is member of Association of American Geographers, where he was co-founder and chair of its Water Resources Specialty Group, the American Water Resources Association, serving as general chair of its 2002 National Water Policy Dialog, the International Water Resources Association, and the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses. He is registered as a professional engineer in New York.
Galloway graduated from the U.S. Military Academy with a bachelor’s degree and was commissioned into the Army as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. During his 38-year career in the military he served in various command and staff assignments in Germany, Southeast Asia, and the United States. From 1974-1977, he commanded the Army Corps of Engineers District in Vicksburg, Miss., managing its multi-state $150 million annual water resources development program, including operation of seven large dams and construction of two locks and dams. In 1979, he joined the faculty of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, serving successively as professor of geography and computer science, and professor and founding head of the department of geography and environmental engineering.
In 1985-1986 Galloway served as special assistant to the commander-in-chief, U.S. Army Europe, developing automation architecture for higher-level European theater organizations. From 1987-1988 he served as chief of staff and deputy post commander for the Military Academy. In 1990 he was promoted to the grade of brigadier general and appointed the ninth dean of the academic board (chief academic officer) of the Military Academy. He retired from active duty in 1995. From 1995-1998, he served as dean of the faculty and academic programs at Industrial College of the Armed Forces, National Defense University, Washington, D.C.
Galloway holds a master’s in engineering from Princeton, a master’s in public administration from Penn State (Capitol Campus), a master’s in military art and science from U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and a Ph.D. in geography (water resources) from University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill). He is also a graduate of the Army War College, the Army Command and General Staff College, the Army’s Engineer School, and the Ranger and Airborne courses of the Army Infantry School. He has been awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with four oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star, the Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, and several other medals and campaign ribbons. In 1991, he was presented the Bliss Medal by Society of American Military Engineers; in 1995, the Silver DeFleury Medal by the Army Engineer Association; and in 1998, the Goddard-White Award by the Association of State Floodplain Managers. In 2001, he received the ASCE Civil Government Award. He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi national academic honor society.