Thomas L Theis

Education
Ph.D. (Environmental Engineering), University of Notre Dame
Dissertation title: "The Stabilization of Ferrous Iron by Natural Organic Compounds in Oxygen-Rich Environments" Advisor: Dr. Philip C. Singer
M.S. (Environmental Engineering), University of Notre Dame
B.S. (Civil Engineering), University of Notre Dame

Appointments
January, 2002 — present, Director, Institute for Environmental Science and Policy and Professor of Civil and Materials Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
July, 1999 – December, 2001, Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
July, 1999 – December, 2001, Director, Center for Environmental Management, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
July, 1996 – June, 1999, Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam NY
January, 1985 – June, 1999, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
August, 1988 – December, 1988, Visiting Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
May, 1979 – December, 1984, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
September, 1983 – June, 1984, Visiting Fellow, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
August, 1973 – May, 1979, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

Honors/Distinctions/Professional Activities (most recent)
Member, USEPA Chartered Science Advisory Board (2003-2010)
Member, USEPA Science Advisory Board, Environmental Engineering Committee (2000-2003), Consultant (1998-2000).
Keynote Speaker, International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering (2015)
Invited speaker, “Sustainable Electronic Materials”, Hereaus Foundation Summer School (2010)
Keynote Speaker, NitroEurope Annual Conference (2009)
Gordon Research Conference, Industrial Ecology, invited speaker (2008)
Council Member, International Society for Industrial Ecology (2007-2010)
Board of Directors, World Water Watch (2005-present)
Environmental Leadership Award, Chicago Academy of Sciences (2005)
Diplomate Environmental Engineer, American Association of Environmental Engineers, Election by Eminence (2002)

Professional Synopsis
Professor Theis is Director of the Institute for Environmental Science and Policy (IESP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. IESP focuses on the development of new cross-disciplinary research initiatives in the environmental area. He is the erstwhile Bayard D. Clarkson Professor and Director of the Center for Environmental Management at Clarkson University. Professor Theis received his doctoral degree in environmental engineering, with a specialization in environmental chemistry, from the University of Notre Dame. His areas of expertise include industrial ecology, the mathematical modeling and systems analysis of environmental processes, industrial pollution prevention, the environmental chemistry of trace organic and inorganic substances, interfacial reactions, subsurface contaminant transport, and hazardous waste management.

Dr. Theis has been principal or co-principal investigator on over fifty funded research projects and has authored or co-authored over one hundred twenty papers in peer reviewed research journals, books, and reports. In 2011, he and Jonathan Tomkin (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign) co-edited the e-textbook "Sustainability: A Comprehensive Foundation". He served as a member of the USEPA Chartered Science Advisory Board (2003-2009), and is past editor of the Journal of Environmental Engineering. From 1980-1985 he was the co-director of the Industrial Waste Elimination Research Center (a collaboration of Illinois Institute of Technology and University of Notre Dame), one of the first Centers of Excellence established by the USEPA. In 1989 he was an invited participant on the United Nations’ Scientific Committee on Problems in the Environment (SCOPE) Workshop on Groundwater Contamination, in 1998 he was invited to by the World Bank to assist in the development of the first environmental engineering program in Argentina, in January, 2009 he delivered the keynote address at the NitroEurope Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden, and in October 2009 he was a member of the US delegation to the US-Japan Workshop on Life Cycle Assessment and Infrastructure Materials in Sapporo, Japan. He is the founding Principal Investigator of the Environmental Manufacturing Management Program.

Invited Lectures
Approximately 150 invited lectures

Conference Presentations
Over 300 presentations before professional meetings and conferences

Click here for Dr. Theis' publications