He is Dean and Professor Emeritus of the School of Engineering and Computer Science of the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California in the US. He received BA and M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the California State University, and PhD in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech. He studied public administration and public policy at Harvard, earning an MPA and did additional graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He was Associate Dean of Research and Executive Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre, and director of the graduate program of management environmental engineering at the University of Cincinnati, USA at the College of Engineering. He was a distinguished visiting professor at many universities worldwide. He has held research and teaching positions at the University of Illinois (Urbana - Champaign) and MIT. He was external consultant at University of Harvard and College of Churchill of University of Cambridge.

He was director of staff of over 200 engineers and scientists to conduct interdisciplinary research for the US Army, and was the Founder and Director of the Institute for Environmental Policy of the US Army. He has worked for the water resources sector and industry of the state of California and has been a consultant to federal agencies, international organizations and the private sector. He has worked as an expert for environmental engineering and policy.

His extensive international experience includes: teaching professional development courses in Europe, Asia, Middle East and South Central America. He is co-Editor-in-Chief in an international journal and Associate Editor in three international journals. He has worked on research projects with international presence funded by the NSF, NATO, the EPA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Education.

He has served in numerous working groups and advisory councils for the US Department of Defense, the NSF, the Navy, the Army, the EPA and the NAS. He is an elected member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the ASCE, and the American Academy of Environmental Engineering. In 1989 he was the recipient of the Gold Medal for innovative research and chosen Engineer of the Year by the US firm of professional engineers. He was the first professional between 181,000 engineers.

He has published seventeen books and over 180 journal articles, book chapters and technical reports. He is Co-editor-in-Chief in the Journal of Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy.