Rollin H. Hotchkiss

Professor Rollin H. Hotchkiss, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, F.ASCE is the Immediate Past-President of the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI), Professor and Associate Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Brigham Young University (BYU).  Dr. Hotchkiss began his professional career as a civil engineer in the Flood Protection Branch of the Tennessee Valley Authority from 1979-1985. Shortly after, Rollin pursued his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, in which he earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in 1989.  Dr. Hotchkiss spent his longest tenure as a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1989-1998) and then at Washington State University (1998-2005).

Professor Hotchkiss is a widely known and recognized leader in expert witnessing on flooding issues since 1995, development of culvert design procedures and stream restoration.  Rollin has been an active member of EWRI and its committees since creation of EWRI, serving as Treasurer and Vice-President prior to becoming President. 

Rollin serves as Secretary General of the International Coordinating Committee on Reservoir Sedimentation (ICCORES), (1993 – present) and member of the UNESCO Task Force on International Sedimentation Initiative, (2001 – present).  He served as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Missouri River Recover and Associated Sediment Management Issues, 2008 – 2010; Chair of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute Watershed Council, (2003 – 2006); member of the Task Committee on Sediment Dynamics upon Dam Removal, (2001 – 2006); Associate Editor of the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, (1997 – 2008); and as member of the Transportation Research Board Committee AFB60, Hydrology, Hydraulics, and Water Quality, (1996 – 2008).

Dr. Hotchkiss earned his BS in Civil Engineering at BYU and his Master’s in Civil Engineering at Utah State University.  Among some of Rollin’s notable honors and awards are being recipient of BYU’s Outstanding Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Teacher; Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology Excellence in Education Award, 2006; Leon Luck Most Effective Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, 2005; Nominated for Advisor of the Year, 2004.

Rollin is a founding Diplomate of AAWRE and in this interview, Rollin shares his thoughts with AAWRE on reflections of this past year as EWRI President, his career, his love of teaching and root beer, and his advice for leaders of tomorrow.