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Jim Heaney, former professor and chair of CU Boulder’s Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering passed away on Aug. 24. He was 84 years old.

Heaney served as a CEAE professor at CU Boulder from 1991 to 2003 and as department chair from 1991 to 1994. He then joined the University of Florida, retiring as a professor emeritus in 2018.

“Jim was one of the early supporters for bridging water resources and environmental engineering, which has had lasting benefits at CU Boulder,” said Professor Emerita JoAnn Silverstein.

Heaney received his PhD in environmental and water resources engineering from Northwestern University in 1968. He began his career during the early days of applying systems analysis to civil engineering and was a pioneer in utilizing physically based engineering models to optimize the design and operation of water systems.

At CU Boulder, he taught a range of courses on water resources engineering, including water systems optimization, and he helped develop the US EPA stormwater model (SWMM). He later became an expert in urban water efficiency and demand management, continuing this work at the University of Florida.

“Jim had a huge influence on me and the direction of my career,” said Peter Mayer, who was advised by Heaney while earning his MS in water resources engineering at CU Boulder in 1995.  

Mayer credited Heaney for setting him on the path to becoming a leading expert in residential water use and consulting.

“It all started because of Jim,” said Mayer, who now leads two major residential water use studies for the Water Research Foundation and California Department of Water Resources. “He set me up with research on residential water use for the city of Boulder for my thesis. That study, with 16 houses, homemade flow sensors and MS-DOS-based software was the start of my career in residential water use analysis, water use research and consulting.”

Len Wright, a PhD student of Heaney in the late 1990s and early 2000s recalled being recruited by him in 1995 for an NSF-funded project with an “incredible multi-disciplinary team”  at the Natural Hazards Center. Heaney later became his dissertation advisor.

“He guided me on an incredible journey that continues today,” Wright said. “His systems perspective on water resources opened my eyes to the world of water supply, drought, flooding and urban drainage. I am proud to continue this work, helping  the US Virgin Islands recover from the devastation of hurricanes Irma and Maria, as well as post-wildfire and flooding disasters in New Mexico. Not a day goes by that I don’t use something I learned during my years of work with Jim, developing applied research solutions to climate-driven water resources problems.”

Professor Balaji Rajgopalan described Heaney as a “calming presence” in the water faculty group, adding, “He was a great mentor with a warm personality.”

“I will miss his cheerful attitude, boundless new ideas and expert copy editing,” said Mayer. “He introduced me to people who are still my colleagues and peers today. He was a mentor and a friend.”