UNC professor honored for distinguished service to water supply field

February 26, 2004

Dr. Francis A. DiGiano, a professor in the UNC School of Public Health’s department of environmental sciences and engineering, recently received the George Warren Fuller Award, presented by the American Water Works Association’s N.C. section.The award, established in 1937 and the most prestigious presented by the N.C. section, is given each year to individuals with distinguished service in the water supply field.DiGiano will be recognized at an American Water Works Association awards ceremony this June in Orlando, Fla.

A UNC faculty member since 1981, DiGiano’s research has focused on water and wastewater treatment technology, with an emphasis on using absorption and membrane technologies in removing organic contaminants from drinking water.

He has worked closely with officials in Carthage, N.C., to help guide the town’s conversion from conventional water treatment technology to microfiltration technology. Carthage is the first N.C. community to convert a municipal water treatment plant to this new technology. Additionally, he has provided guidance to the local water treatment divisions.

DiGiano has edited and written numerous journal articles and publications, including the book “Process Dynamics in Environmental Systems,” published in 1996. In 2003, he received a six-month Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award to Milan Polytechnical University in Italy to evaluate a new membrane bioreactor technology for wastewater treatment.

For further information please contact Lisa Katz either by phone at 919-966-7467 or by email at lisa_katz@unc.edu