About

Erich J. Plate was born on July 14, 1929 in Hamburg, Germany. He graduated from Stuttgart Technical University as a civil engineer in 1954 and there submitted his PhD thesis in 1964. From 1954 to 1957 he was a Fulbright Student at Colorado State University CSU, returned then for two years to Stuttgart University to accept in 1959 a CSU faculty position. He was appointed there professor of water resources in 1968 and from 1970 he was a professor at Karlsruhe Technical University. His research topics included water resources, waves, and pollution of water and air. Plate directed the Karlsruhe Institute for Hydrology and Water Resources in the 1970s. He was awarded the James Croes Gold Medal from ASCE in 1971. He was also awarded Honorary Membership of the Italian Hydrotechnical Association in 1986 and the honorary doctorate from Hannover Technical University in 1993.

Career Type:

Organization Type:

Expertise Fields/Interests:

Major Achievements:

Plate presided over IAHR from 1983 to 1987 after having been Council Member and IAHR vice-president from 1973 to 1983. During his term, the Congresses of Moscow in 1983, Melbourne in 1985 and Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1987 were held. Plate was actively involved in the organization of the 1977 IAHR Congress, he initiated the History of Hydraulics book edited by Günther Garbrecht for the 50th anniversary of IAHR in 1985; he also proposed the IAHR Lecturership and he took over for a short period as IAHR Acting Executive Secretary during which period he organized the search committee for the present IAHR Secretary General. His main concern for IAHR was a wider presence in aspects of hydraulic engineering and research. Plate is an IAHR Honorary Member from 1993. He is still present at most of the IAHR Congresses and takes considerable interest in matters relating to IAHR publications and international activities.