The National Water Research Institute (NWRI) has selected John Crittenden as the 22nd recipient of the NWRI Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for excellence in water research. 

Consisting of a medallion and $50,000 award, the NWRI Clarke Prize is given out each year to recognize research accomplishments that solve real-world water problems and to highlight the importance and need to continue funding this type of research. 

Crittenden was selected as the 2015 recipient because of his outstanding contributions to treating chemical contaminants in water and his leadership in addressing water demand for transportation, energy production, and domestic use in a holistic, sustainable manner.

“I consider the Clarke Prize to be one of the greatest honors that one who conducts water research can receive,” says Crittenden.

The Clarke Prize will be presented to Crittenden on October 30, 2015, at the 22nd Annual NWRI Clarke Prize Lecture and Award Ceremony in Huntington Beach, California. The award ceremony is the highlight of the NWRI Clarke Prize Conference, a one-day event that features a mix of leading-edge research by academics complimented with practical case studies by industry practitioners.

With a career spanning 37 years, Crittenden has been a pioneer in the research and development of water treatment technologies, particularly physical-chemical treatment processes.  

In 2008, Crittenden was recruited to Georgia Tech to direct the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, established to create technological, management, and policy strategies to ensure a sustainable future.  

With joint faculty appointments in the School of Electrical and Chemical Engineering and School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Crittenden holds the Hightower Chair and is the Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Environmental Technologies.