The award, established more than 85 years ago, is the AGU’s most prestigious distinction, given annually to a researcher for outstanding contributions to fundamental geophysics and for unselfish cooperation in science.
The AGU cited Sorooshian’s “exceptional contributions to water science and practice, and vision in developing a global precipitation product serving millions of people worldwide.”
Sorooshian, 76, is a distinguished professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine, and director of the university’s Center for Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing.
Born in Kerman, Iran, he moved to the United States in 1966 and earned his PhD at UCLA.
Kaveh Madani, head of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, congratulated Sorooshian in a social media post, calling him “the first Iranian to receive the William Bowie Medal” and praising his decades of support for younger researchers.
The AGU, founded in 1919, is the world’s largest Earth and space science society with more than 62,000 members from 144 countries. Its annual prizes are announced in September and presented at the December meeting attended by over 25,000 participants.
The hydrologist has previously received the Robert E. Horton Medal, NASA’s Distinguished Public Service Medal, and the UNESCO Great Man-Made River Water Prize. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and several international scientific academies.
