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IRVINE — Rafael L. Bras, a prominent MIT hydrologist and hydroclimatologist, has been named dean of The Henry Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine, effective Sept. 1.

“Rafael Bras is an internationally renowned scientist and educator with extensive expertise on water and the environment – two tremendously important topics to our community, state and to the world at large,” said Chancellor Michael V. Drake. “I am excited to welcome this distinguished leader and scholar to our university.”

Bras, 57, is currently the Edward A. Abdun-Nur Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT. He also holds an appointment in the university’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences.

Bras is well known for his contributions to soil-vegetation-atmosphere system modeling, and he has been recognized for his innovative work describing and forecasting floods and precipitation. His landscape-river basin-evolution models are widely used in hydrology and geology. Bras also has pioneered ideas about how the deforestation of the Amazon will impact regional and continental climates.

He has authored more than 170 refereed journal publications, two textbooks, several monographs and many other publications and presentations.

Bras’ numerous awards and accolades include his 2001 election into the prestigious National Academy of Engineering. He is a corresponding member of the National Academy of Engineering of Mexico, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society. He received the Athalie Richardson Irvine Clarke Prize for his work on water science and technology, and he also was awarded the Macelwane and Horton medals of the American Geophysical Union for his geophysical and hydrology work. This May he receives the Simon W. Freese Award of the Environmental and Water resources Institute of ASCE and the Honorary Diplomate of the American Academy of Water Resources Engineers.

Bras chairs an international panel of experts overseeing a $7.9 billion project to develop and construct a system of barriers that will protect Venice, Italy, from flooding during unusually high tides. The project is scheduled for completion in 2014.

“I’m truly honored and excited about this position,” he said. “The Irvine campus is young, energetic and eager to achieve excellence across the board. The Samueli School of Engineering is an enormous asset, recognized as a keystone to building a top-tier modern university in a world where engineering and science are increasingly the drivers of the economic engine and hold the promise of a better society. My wife, Pat, and I are also taken by the warmth, friendliness and eagerness to help of everybody we have met.”

A native of Puerto Rico, Bras holds three degrees from MIT: a bachelors in civil engineering (1972), a master’s in civil engineering (1974) and a science doctorate in water resources and hydrology (1975). He started as a professor at the University of Puerto Rico before joining the MIT faculty in July 1976.

Bras served as head of the Ralph M. Parsons Laboratory at MIT from 1983 to 1991; head of the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 1992 to 2001; and chair of the MIT Faculty from 2003 to 2005. He currently is an associate director of the Center for Global Change Science and directs the Terrascope freshman alternative program.

His dedication to issues of diversity in the faculty and student body earned him MIT’s Martin Luther King Leadership Award in 2000.

“Professor Bras has a strong multidisciplinary background and a record of excellence in a number of nationally prominent roles,” said Michael R. Gottfredson, executive vice chancellor and provost. “Both the Samueli School and the university will benefit tremendously from the leadership and vision of this passionate and well-respected scholar, teacher and mentor.”

Bras, who will earn a base salary of $330,000, will be joined on campus by his wife, Patricia A. Bras, a landscape designer. They have two children: Rafael E., who is about to complete his doctoral studies in material sciences and engineering from Northwestern University, and Alejandro, a law student at Stanford University.

Bras will succeed Nicolaos G. Alexopoulos, who has served as dean since 1997. Under Alexopoulos’ leadership, the Samueli School saw its enrollment nearly double to 2,215 undergraduate and 698 graduate students in the 2007-2008 academic year. The school has enjoyed an expansion in research expenditures as well as an increase in philanthropic, private and industrial support.

Alexopoulos also supported the creation of numerous school and campus advancements during his tenure, including the National Fuel Cell Research Center, the Integrated Nanosystems Research Facility and the Center for Pervasive Communications and Computing. He also initiated and supported the establishment of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology, as well as the development and launch of a new biomedical engineering department.

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