Roseanna Neupauer, Founders Award 2001

by Kathy Hedges

SOCORRO, N.M.-Roseanna Neupauer was named recipient of New Mexico Tech's Founder's Award, the highest award to a graduate student, at commencement ceremonies on May 12, 2001. Neupauer also received a Ph.D. in hydrology.

Neupauer is a native of Northampton, Pa., where she graduated from Northampton High School in 1985. She is the daughter of George and Mary Neupauer of Northampton. She is a 1989 graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and a 1991 graduate of MIT with a master's degree in civil engineering.

It was the second time Neupauer had received the Founder's Award, the first time being in 1999, when she graduated with a master's degree in mathematics. Neupauer had served for several years as president of the campus's Graduate Student Association (GSA). In this role, she advanced several causes of interest to students, including a health care center. She helped get better student representation at all levels of the administration and made sure that graduate student concerns were not only heard but also acted upon. After stepping down from her office, Neupauer continued to serve the GSA, by advising its officers. After leaving Tech, she continued to provide feedback to GSA officers and helped graduate students by providing a Ph.D. dissertation template. Neupauer was also presented with the Graduate Student Association's Appreciation Award.

Neupauer completed her Ph.D. during the fall of 2000 and is currently an assistant professor of civil engineering at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. For her dissertation research, she developed a mathematical modeling approach that can be used to identify sources of groundwater contamination, and she successfully tested the approach at a contaminated site on Cape Cod, Mass
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At the University of Virginia, her current research program includes additional studies on identifying sources of groundwater contamination, investigations of processes that control the movement of contaminants, and sustainable development of groundwater resources.

New Mexico Tech is an outstanding research university, specializing in science and engineering, located in Socorro, New Mexico. Its graduate program in hydrology is ranked fourth nationally by U.S. News and World Report.