Biography

Professor Daniel B. Oerther (pronounced O’thur) is renowned for: 1) interprofessional education pioneering modified mastery learning to advance the V-shaped profession of the nurse+engineer; and 2) community-based participatory research improving access to clean water and nutritious food, local to global, through sustainable technology and improved social contracts.

Dan teaches in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering. He holds an earned doctorate in environmental engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and he completed post graduate coursework in environmental health, public health, and public affairs.

Professor Oerther is a licensed Professional Engineer, Board Certified in Environmental Engineering, and a Chartered Engineer in the United Kingdom. He is a Certified Environmental Health Specialist and a Diplomate Laureate of the American Academy of Sanitarians. Dan is a Board Certified Environmental Scientist and a Chartered Environmentalist in the United Kingdom.

Prior to joining Missouri S&T, Dr. Oerther taught at the University of Cincinnati, where he served as Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dan was a Foreign Affairs Officer and served as the Senior Science Advisor in the Secretary’s Office of Global Food Security at the United States Department of State as well as a Fulbright Scholar to England, Fulbright-ALCOA Distinguished Chair to Brazil, and Fulbright-Pai Endowed Professorship / Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Scholar, both to India.

Examples of Dan’s prior leadership positions include: Past President, Graduate Faculty Missouri S&T; Past President, American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists; and Past Chair, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (London, UK).

Examples of Dr. Oerther’s professional recognition include Fellowship in the following organizations: Academy of Fellows for Teaching and Learning of the University of Cincinnati (AFTL), Academy of Nursing Educators of the National League for Nursing (ANE), American Academy of Nursing (AAN), Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP), Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), Institute for Public Health and Water Research (IPWR), Jefferson Science Fellow (JSF), Presidential Engagement Fellow of the University of Missouri System (PEF), Royal Society for Arts (RSA), Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH), Society for Environmental Engineers (SEE), Society for Operations Engineers (SOE).

Named awards received by Professor Oerther include: Sigma’s Edith Moore Copeland Founders Award for Excellence in Creativity and Innovation; NEHA’s Joe Beck Educational Contribution Award; WEF’s Gordon Maskew Fair Distinguished Engineering Educator Award; AAEES’s Stanley K. Kappe Distinguished Lectureship; NLN’s Lillian Wald Humanitarian Award; ASEE’s Robert G. Quinn Award; Missouri’s C. Brice Ratchford Memorial Fellowship; AWWA’s Dr. John L. Leal Award; AAEES’s Stanley E. Kappe Service Award; EESF’s Frederick George Pohland Medal; AEESP’s Steven K. Dentel Award for Global Outreach; Missouri’s John A. and Susan Mathes Endowed Chair of Civil Engineering; CCNY’s Bruce Podwal Memorial Lecturer; UC’s Neil Wandmacher Teaching Award for Young Faculty; UIUC’s Mavis Memorial Fund Scholarship for Teaching; and UIUC’s Richard S. and Mary E. Engelbrecht Fellowship.

Dr. Oerther is a proud Eagle Scout.

Disciplines

Environmental Biotechnology; Food Security; Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WaSH); Mastery Learning

Education

• 2002 – Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• 1997 – M.S. in Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• 1995 – B.S. in Environmental Engineering, Northwestern University
• 1995 – B.A. in Biology, Northwestern University