麻豆影院

Photo caption: The CU 麻豆影院 Water Group at听Hari Rajaram's听2018 going-away party. From left to right, Joseph Kasprzyk, John Crimaldi, Rajagopalan Balaji, Edie Zagona,听Hari Rajaram and听Roseanna Neupauer. Photo courtesy Roseanna Neupauer.

Hari Rajaram, a beloved former faculty member in CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering (CEAE), died unexpectedly on July 4 at his home in Baltimore. He was 59 years old.

Rajaram was globally recognized as a prominent figure in the field of environmental and Earth systems, known for his innovative use of mathematical models to understand and predict complex environmental phenomena. He was also a world-renowned expert in hydrology.听

In the department, he was affectionately called the 鈥渉istorian鈥� for his phenomenal memory and revered for his methodical, well-organized teaching likened to a 鈥減recisely orchestrated symphony.鈥� He was celebrated not just as a researcher, but also as an exceptional teacher, mentor, friend and role model.听

鈥淗ari was that rare individual who combined strong intellect with humility and warmth,鈥� said CEAE Professor Rajagopalan Balaji. 鈥淗e had an attitude of selfless service, remained even tempered and empathetic and was an all-around wonderful human being.鈥澨�

Balaji shared that he frequently met with Rajaram during his tenure as department chair (2014-2022), 鈥渢o seek his thoughtful counsel.鈥澨�

鈥淗ari consistently advocated for and championed quality over quantity, providing an important voice,鈥� he said.

Professor Emerita JoAnn Silverstein, who worked with Rajaram for 20 years,听highlighted his impact during听her eight years as department chair听(2002 鈥� 2010) when听Rajaram served as听the associate chair.

"Hari听led numerous challenging tasks in service of the department, and I can鈥檛 recall any contentious issue that he听could not resolve with his empathy, insight and sense of humor,"听she said.听"That Hari embodied all the best facets of academic life was a source of inspiration to me and countless others."

CEAE Professor Roseanna Neupauer, who first met Rajaram when they were graduate students at MIT, echoed Silverstein's and Balaji鈥檚 sentiments.

鈥淗ari had absolutely no ego and possessed a strong desire to uplift his community and every individual. With his clarity of mind to see the big picture, he approached contentious issues with a calm demeanor, grace and diplomacy, offering well-reasoned solutions that everyone could agree on. He was an outstanding teacher, patient and encouraging with all his students.鈥澨�

Balaji said Rajaram was the search committee chair who recruited him, and later Neupauer.听

鈥淗e is the reason we ended up at CU,鈥� Balaji said.听

A distinguished career

At CU 麻豆影院, Rajaram was hired as an assistant professor in 1993 and rose to the rank as a professor of civil engineering in 2004, also serving as the department鈥檚 associate chair from 2006-2008. He received numerous teaching awards, including being named a President鈥檚 Teaching Scholar 鈥攖he highest teaching honor in the CU system. He won nearly every award in the CEAE department from research to outstanding teaching.听

Also while at CU 麻豆影院, Rajaram received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award (1998), collaborated with many CEAE faculty on various projects and听served as the editor of the premier journal 鈥淲ater Resources Research'' from 2013-2017.

In 2018, Rajaram moved to the Johns Hopkins Department of Environmental Health and Engineering and had served as deputy chair since that time. He was the editor-in-chief of 鈥淕eophysical Research Letters鈥� from 2019 until his passing, and he was recently elected as Fellow of the American Geophysical Union.

Rajaram began his academic journey at the Indian Institute of Technology, in Madras, where he earned a Bachelor of Technology. He later pursued his MS at the University of Iowa. In 1991, he obtained his PhD in civil engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.听 Following his doctoral studies, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University in the Department of Civil Engineering and Operations Research.

Neupauer shared a story from their time together as graduate students at MIT.

鈥溌槎褂霸� 10 years ago, a group of CU 麻豆影院 graduate students taking classes from both Hari and me discovered that when Hari and I were graduate students at MIT, we were finalists in an Irish jig competition at our lab's St. Patrick's Day party. When they asked Hari about the competition, he claimed he couldn't remember who won,鈥� Neupauer said.

鈥淥f course, this meant that Hari had won鈥攂ecause he never forgot anything and wouldn't want to brag,鈥� she said.

Balaji also called Rajaram鈥檚 memory 鈥減henomenal.鈥�

鈥淚n almost all the conversations he brought a relevant historical perspective,鈥� he said. 鈥淓ven in technical discussions he would quote classic papers to offer richer insights. This was uniquely and quintessentially Hari.

"I will miss him.鈥�