Dr. Desmond Lawler earned his Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1980. He joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin in that same year. Lawler was named a University Distinguished Teaching Professor in 1997. In 1999, he received the A.P. Black Award for significant and sustained research contributions in drinking water from the American Water Works Association, the primary professional organization in North America devoted to improving drinking water quality and supply. Dr. Lawler's research includes both experimental and mathematical approaches in studying physical and chemical treatment processes for the treatment of drinking water, wastewater, and industrial process water. Much of his work focuses on the removal of particles through modern membrane processes as well as through conventional processes such as flocculation (in which many small particles are converted to a few large particles), settling, and granular media filtration (attaching particles to media surfaces). The current focus of his work is on pretreatment for membrane processes, including the improvement of water recovery in desalination by reverse osmosis.