ALEXANDRIA, VA -- (Sept. 1, 2023) The Institute for Water Resources (IWR), a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Operating Activity, has bestowed its highest honor to two alumni by inducting them into the IWR Class of 2023 Distinguished Gallery of Employees.
According to Joe Manous, IWR director, alumni, Lynn Martin and Gary Brunner were critical in delivering forward-looking analysis, cutting-edge methodologies, and innovative tools to aid the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program. “Both Lynn and Gary were instrumental in their respective areas of expertise providing solutions to challenges that were on the horizon during their time but have now fully emerged. Our teams are still benefiting from their hard work, selfless service and dedication all these years later as we execute and build upon their work in delivering water resources development needs and policies on behalf of the nation,” stated Manous.
Criteria for induction includes having worked at IWR for at least 5 years at IWR and having accomplished assigned duties in exceptional manner, attaining national professional standing and both internal and external peer recognition through past honors and awards. Inductees must have developed and/or improved methods and procedures and have contributed substantially to USACE. The former employees must have also performed loyally and faithfully throughout the period of service.
Of the hundreds of IWR employees over the past 53-years, only forty have been inducted. During the ceremony, that number increased to forty.
The class of 2023 inductees are as follows:
• Lynn Martin, Water Resources Center – award time range: 1985-2012
• Gary Brunner, Hydrologic Engineering Center – award time range: 1985-2021
The inductees expressed their gratitude at having been selected for the recognition. “I feel very honored and humbled to be included in the Gallery of Distinguished IWR Employees. I had the very good fortune to have worked with many of the earlier inductees while at IWR, experiences which helped me to achieve this honor,” said inductee, Lynn Martin.
“Being inducted into the USACE Institute for Water Resources Gallery of Distinguished Employees is a tremendous honor. Thank you to IWR for recognizing and appreciating my positive impact on the organization. To be placed into such an elite group is truly amazing, and I am grateful,” said inductee, Gary Brunner.
Lynn Martin’s work in shared vision planning, ecosystem restoration, Tribal partnership programs, adaptive management, beneficial use of dredged materials, and environmental benefits laid the foundation for many of the successes in those fields today. Her ability to provide leadership and technical expertise has benefited the USACE and the Nation.
During her time at IWR, Lynn led and contributed to studies and policy analysis on a range of environmental and water resources issues relevant to the USACE Civil Works program. She has been an integral member of the IWR coastal team, including contributions to the “Coastal Tiger Team” that planned USACE coastal business strategy and the development of integrated water resources management system approaches for coastal solutions.
Lynn worked on numerous interagency committees and working groups, including the National Ocean Policy, Gulf of Mexico Alliance, National Dredging Team, and the National Shoreline Management Study. She is a recognized expert and leader in coastal, ocean and environmental communities. Her legacy is found in the SAGE program where she, more than anyone, defined how environmental principles and techniques are incorporated with shore protection and landscape transformation on a regional scale.
Lynn’s understanding of USACE authorities and policies and how they are applied at both the project and system level has been unique. For more than ten years Lynn guided USACE districts and divisions in how to apply a systems approach within existing law and policy. She also infused her knowledge of those authorities into the Systems Approach to Sediment Management and the Regional Sediment Management Program.
The collection of reports and events Lynn was involved include shared vision planning, ecosystem restoration, mitigation banking, Tribal partnerships program, marine transportation systems, beneficial use of dredged materials, adaptive management, and environmental benefits (and this is just a portion). Ms. Martin’s body of work has touched multiple facets of USACE’s Civil Works mission and laid a foundation that the agency and IWR continue to build upon today.
Gary Brunner brings world-renowned experience in developing and applying hydrologic and hydraulic modeling software to solve water resources issues. He has long been recognized as a national leader in and outside USACE with respect to the study of river hydraulics and was one of the very first technical specialists at the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC). He also set technical and policy direction for the Hydrology, Hydraulics, and Coastal (HH&C) Community of Practice (CoP) that has extended well beyond just USACE practice.
Brunner is widely published on Hydrologic Engineering Center-River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) and has been teaching and lecturing on a variety of HEC-sponsored short courses that cover a broad range of water resource topics. Additionally, Gary has developed and delivered HEC river hydraulics classes, and hydrologic and hydraulics courses for dam safety.
For almost 36 years, Gary made significant contributions benefiting the HEC, IWR, USACE, USACE HH&C CoP, and water resources profession at large. The software he helped to create, HECRAS, has become the industry standard, routinely downloaded over 100,000 times per year, and is used around the world literally impacting millions of people.
For almost 30 years, Gary and the HEC-RAS team created and supported advancements within HEC-RAS that revolutionized the study of river hydraulics. The release of HEC-RAS Version 5.0, that included 2D capabilities, was truly a milestone in his career but also for the water resources profession.
Before Gary’s retirement, he and the HEC-RAS team released HEC-RAS 6.0 which likewise provided groundbreaking new features. HEC-RAS is used by all USACE District and Division offices, by academia, the engineering profession, and local, State, and other Federal government agencies. The National Weather Service, United States Geological Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Federal Highway Administration are just a few of the Federal agencies that have adopted HEC-RAS as their software of choice for river hydraulics modeling. Eighty percent of Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain/floodway analyses are performed with HEC-RAS. The development and delivery of HEC-RAS has all but eliminated the need for another piece of river hydraulics software. His work has brought a bright light onto himself, HEC, IWR, and USACE.
About IWR:
The Institute for Water Resources (IWR) is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Operating Activity that primarily supports the USACE Civil Works mission.
IWR is a 333-person organization consisting of seven centers that include the Water Resources Center (WRC), Navigation and Civil Works Decision Support Center (NDC), Collaboration and Public Participation Center of Expertise (CPCX), and International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM) all located in Alexandria, VA; Hydrologic Engineer Center (HEC) in Davis, CA; Risk Management Center (RMC) located in Lakewood, CO, Pittsburg, PA, and Louisville, KY; and the Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (WCSC) located in New Orleans, LA.
The vision of IWR is to “provide forward-looking analysis, cutting-edge methodologies, and innovative tools to aid the Civil Works program”.
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