The Henry and Joyce Miedema Chair in Civil and Environmental Engineering was created through a generous bequest by alumnus Henry Jay Miedema (CE BS ’61, MS ’63) and Joyce Miedema. The chair will provide support for a faculty member in Civil and Environmental Engineering whose research and teaching is in the area of California water issues.
After providing engineering and financial consultations for water districts at the engineering firm Robert Bein, William Frost & Associates, and then later at Psomas & Associates, Henry formed his own consulting business, Henry Miedema & Associates, in 2002. The firm designed water facilities and prepared studies to allocate water system costs among benefitted properties for purposes of water district assessments. His illustrious career led him to be a highly respected engineer in the area of developing and operating water supply systems.
Henry married Joyce Bandsma in 1964. Henry and Joyce were very successful investors in real estate and together they established the Miedema Charitable Trust to benefit the University of California, Berkeley, in 1997. Joyce Miedema passed away in January, 1999. Henry married Janet Morningstar in October, 2000, and he passed away in September, 2014.
Henry was always “a loyal son of California” and Joyce, “a loyal daughter-in-law of California.” In addition to their other contributions, Henry was a longstanding member and generous leader of the Berkeley Engineering Fund Board of Directors.
“We are extremely grateful to the Miedemas for their very generous support and their foresight to invest in departmental excellence for years to come. Their gift will benefit today’s faculty and students and be an invaluable foundation for solving tomorrow’s most pressing problems,” said CEE Chair Robert Harley.
“I am pleased to announce that the inaugural holder of the Miedema Chair will be Professor Mark Stacey, an inspiring teacher and a leading expert on the dynamics of coastal and estuarine systems.”
Professor Stacey, who also serves as the department’s Vice Chair of Academic Affairs, heads a National Science Foundation project to examine infrastructure resiliency in California.
His multi-disciplinary team analyzes future challenges relevant to long-term water and transportation infrastructure planning, from both the technology and engineering side and the economic and political side.
A larger goal of Stacey’s research is to improve how local, regional, state and federal agencies interact in planning for the future, identifying opportunities where decision-makers can coordinate and improve planning and management of critical infrastructure systems.
“We’re approaching this as a partnership with the managers and actors who make real decisions about how to prepare for and adapt to rising seas,” says Stacey.
“The Henry and Joyce Miedema Chair will provide essential funding for researchers, post-docs, and graduate students as we build the necessary models and prepare to meet with policymakers and industry leaders.”