Profile

William Roper

Professor

Bio

Dr. Roper currently serves as a visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering and an Adjunct Professor in the Collage of Science and the Business School at George Mason University. He is a Senior Advisor at the consulting firm of Dawson & Associates in Washington D.C. and a founding Director and President of the Rivers of the World (ROW) Foundation, an international 501(3c) non-profit organization dedicated to improving water quality, sustainability and stewardship of our world’s rivers and lakes. Dr. Roper is the founder and President of EnviroTech Global LLC an engineering and environmental consulting firm in Virginia. He also served as Arlington County's Environmental Services and Public Works Department Director (Transportation, infrastructure management, public works, building code development & review, wastewater treatment, water distribution, engineering, GIS and Remote Sensing Center, facilities and vehicle maintenance, capital projects management, and the real estate group). He also served as the county's first Chief Environmental Officer and a member of the county’s Executive Leadership Board. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins University, he was Professor and Chair of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at George Washington University. He is a former Federal Senior Executive Service career executive having served as the Director and CEO of the Army Geospatial Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Dr. Roper also severed as the Director of the Army Corps of Engineers World-Wide Civil Works Research and Development Program which involved research program management, development and execution at seven major laboratories and five research centers located throughout the United States involving over 2200 scientists and engineers. He was a senior manager with the US Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Air, Noise and Radiation National Programs. While in academia he has lead research and support programs with the Environmental Protection Agency, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Arlington County Government, National Institute of Science and Technology, America Online and the Army's Construction Engineering Research Laboratory. Dr. Roper's federal professional experience includes senior management positions in the U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Army. Dr. Roper was also appointed to the National Academies Committee for the Protection of Critical Transportation Infrastructure and selected to chair the sub-committee on Technology Research, Development and deployment. He has also been active with the Water Science and Technology Board, the Infrastructure and Constructed Environment Board, and the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as the American Public Works Association. He served as a member of the National Oil Spill Research Committee, the National Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force, Construction Industry Strategic Development Council, National Civil Engineering Research Council, and was U.S. Chairman of the Dam Task Committee and the Task Committee on Advanced Information for Disaster Prevention and Public Health Evaluation under the U.S.-Japan Natural Resources Agreement. He has lead international research, development and assistance programs in Japan, the Peoples Republic of China, India, Ethiopia, Egypt, Brazil, United Kingdom, Russia, Indonesia and the Philippines. He is the author of over 180 technical papers, four books and has presented at numerous national and international forums.