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Thomas L. Theis

Director, Institute for Environmental Science and Policy
Professor, Civil and Materials Engineering
University of Illinois at Chicago
SPHW, M/C 673
2121 West Taylor Street
Chicago, IL 60612-7260
Telephone: 312-996-1081
EMAIL: theist@uic.edu

Educational Background
August, 1972, University of Notre Dame, Ph.D. (Environmental Engineering).
Dissertation title: "The Stabilization of Ferrous Iron by Natural Organic Compounds in Oxygen-Rich
          Environments,"
Advisor: Philip C. Singer

August, 1970, University of Notre Dame, M.S. in Civil Engineering

June, 1968, University of Notre Dame, B.S. in Civil Engineering

Registered Professional Engineer, State of Indiana

Appointments
January, 2002-present, Director, Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago,
          Chicago IL.
July, 1999 - January, 2002, Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor, Clarkson University,
          Potsdam, NY.
July, 1999 - January, 2002, Director, Center for Environmental Management, Clarkson University,
          Potsdam, NY.
July, 1996 - June, 1999, Chair, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Clarkson University,
          Potsdam NY.
January, 1985 - June, 1999, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Clarkson University,
          Potsdam, NY.
August, 1988 - December, 1988, Visiting Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University,
          Ithaca, NY.
May, 1979 - December, 1984, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Notre Dame,
          Notre Dame, IN.
September, 1983 - June, 1984, Visiting Fellow, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Princeton University,
          Princeton, NJ.
August, 1980 - December, 1984, Institutional Director, U.S. EPA Industrial Waste Elimination Research Center,
          A Consortium of the University of Notre Dame and Illinois Institute of Technology.
August, 1973 - May, 1979, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering, University of Notre Dame,
          Notre Dame, IN.

Synergistic Activities

Professor Theis' areas of expertise include the mathematical modeling and systems analysis of environmental processes, the environmental chemistry of trace organic and inorganic substances, interfacial reactions, subsurface contaminant transport, hazardous waste management, industrial pollution prevention, and industrial ecology. He has been principal or co-principal investigator on over forty funded research projects totaling in excess of eight million dollars, and has authored or co-authored over one hundred papers in peer reviewed research journals, books, and reports. He is a member of the USEPA Science Advisory Board (Environmental Engineering Committee), is erstwhile editor of the Journal of Environmental Engineering, and serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of Contaminant Transport, and Issues in Environmental Science and Technology. From 1980-1985 he was the co-director of the Industrial Waste Elimination Research Center (a collaboration of Illinois Institute of Technology and University of Notre Dame), one of the first Centers of Excellence established by the USEPA. In 1989 he was an invited participant on the United Nations' Scientific Committee on Problems in the Environment (SCOPE) Workshop on Groundwater Contamination, and in 1998 he was invited to by the World Bank to assist in the development of the first environmental engineering program in Argentina. He is currently Principal Investigator on the Environmental Manufacturing Management Program, one of the Integrated Graduate Education Research and Training (IGERT) grants of the National Science Foundation.

Ten Relevant Publications
Seager, T.P., and T.L. Theis, "A Uniform Definition and Quantitative Basis for Industrial Ecology,"
          Journal of Cleaner Production, 10:225-235 (2002).

Ahmadi, A., B. Williamson, T.L. Theis, and S.E. Powers, "Life-Cycle Inventory of Toner Produced for
          Xerographic Processes," Journal of Cleaner Production (accepted for publication March 2002).

Seager, T. P., and T.L. Theis, "A Thermodynamic Basis for Evaluating Environmental Policy Trade-offs,"
          Clean technologies and Environmental Policy (accepted for publication February 2002).

Seager, T.P., and T.L. Theis, "Exergetic Pollution Potential: Estimating the Revocability of Chemical
          Pollution," Exergy, An International Journal (accepted for publication March 2002).

Yi, Y., T.L. Theis, and T.C. Young, "The Effect of Chlorination on Organocyanide Compounds," Water
          Environment Research Journal 79(1), 51-57.

Gardner, K.H., T.L. Theis, and R. Iyer, "An Experimental and Analytical Approach to
          Understanding the Dynamic Leaching from Municipal Solid Waste Combustion Residue,"
          Environmental Engineering Science (accepted for publication February 2002).

Theis, T.L., A.K. Zander, X. Li, J. Sene, and M.A. Anderson, "Electrochemical and Photocatalytic
          Reduction of Perchlorate Ion," Aqua (accepted for publication March 2002).

Theis, T.L., and D.A. Moye, "The Effect of Cupric Ion Speciation on Biosensor Response," Chemical
          Speciation and Bioavailability, 12(1), 27-33 (2000).

Gardner, K.H., T.L. Theis, and T.C. Young, "Colloid Aggregation: Numerical Solution and
          Measurements," Colloids and Surfaces A: Physiochemical and Engineering Aspects, 141, 237-252
          (1998).

Gardner, K.H., T.L. Theis, and T.C. Young, "The Significance of Shear Stress in the
          Agglomeration Kinetics of Fractal Aggregates," Water Research, 32(9), 2660-2668 (1998).

Collaborators (last 48 months)
T. Holsen, S. Grimberg, T. Young, A. Collins, S. Powers, T. Seager, W. Vitek, A. Rossner, G. Ahmadi, A. Zander (all at Clarkson University), K. Gardner (University of New Hampshire), D. Grasso (Smith College), M. Wiesner (Rice University), M. McFarland (Utah State University), I. Murarka (IshInc), B. Kim (Ford Motor Co.), H. Inyang (University of North Carolina Charlotte), D. Dzombak (Carnegie Mellon University), R. Luthy (Stanford University), M. Kavanaugh (Malcolm Pirnie), V. Thomas (Princeton University), D. Moye (Eckenfelder, Inc.), M. Anderson (University of Wisconsin), H. Cabezas (USEPA), Y. Yi (Hydroqual, Inc.), A. Jain (EPRI), M. Suidan (U. of Cincinnati), B. Rittman (Northwestern University).

Graduate Advisor: Philip C. Singer, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Number of graduate students advised: 11 Ph.D., 40 MS