JoAnn Silverstein is Professor of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering and Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Dr. Silverstein has been a member of the engineering faculty at the University of Colorado, Boulder for 35 years, and served as chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering from 2002 – 2010. She has served as Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement since July 2017. During those administrative appointments, Dr. Silverstein has worked to recruit and mentor women faculty and students in engineering at the University of Colorado, increasing the representation of women in the tenured and tenure track ranks in Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering from less than 10% to 25%. She has mentored 11 women PhD students, five of whom hold academic appointments at US universities.
Dr. Silverstein has a BA in Psychology from Stanford University (honors, 1967); BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Davis (highest distinction, 1977; 1980; and 1982, respectively). She received the Distinguished Engineering Educator award from the Society of Women Engineers in 2000. Her research and teaching are focused on the application of microbial processes to remove contaminants from water and wastewater, treat wastewater for beneficial reuse, and restore damaged environmental sites such as abandoned mines. She has developed modeling approaches to management of nutrients in wastewater and prediction of reliability and resilience of wastewater collection and treatment systems. She patented a novel biological treatment process for removal of nitrate from drinking water.
Dr. Silverstein was Director of the Program in Environmental Design at the University of Colorado from 2012 – 2015, and founding director of the Sustainable by Design Residential Academic Program (2011-2014). She currently serves on the Eminence Membership Committee of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) and the Board of Directors of the Center of the American West.
