March 22, 2010

Homewood memorial service set for M. Gordon ‘Reds’ Wolman

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, April 11, on the Homewood campus to celebrate the life of M. Gordon “Reds” Wolman, an internationally respected expert in river science, water resources management and environmental education. Wolman, an important and beloved member of The Johns Hopkins University faculty for more than half a century, died Feb. 24 at age 85. The memorial event, beginning at 1 p.m. in a tent outside the Homewood Museum, will honor Wolman for his research contributions, his mentorship to generations of students and his long record of service to the university. At the time of his death, he was the B. Howell Griswold Professor of Geography and International Affairs in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering.

Among those scheduled to pay tribute to Wolman are Ronald J. Daniels, president of the university; Nicholas Jones, the Benjamin T. Rome Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering; Edward Bouwer, the Abel Wolman Professor of Environmental Engineering and chair of the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering; and a number of Wolman’s colleagues, former students and friends.

All are welcome to attend. Free parking will be available in the South Garage, and shuttles will be provided to and from the service.

Organizers of the event are planning two tributes incorporating the river rocks for which Wolman was so well-known. One, to be called “The Meander,” will be an installation built from stones provided by those who knew Wolman; the other involves attendees scattering pebbles into their favorite rivers. Details are posted online at http://eng.jhu.edu/wse/Reds_wolman/memorial-service.

Gifts in honor of Wolman will be used to establish the M. Gordon Wolman Fellowship, a graduate student fellowship that will reflect Wolman’s impact across the department, the school and the university. Gifts to this fund may be made by calling 410-516-8723 or filling out the form online.