Gordon Maskew Fair Award

The Gordon Maskew Fair Award honors one of the pioneers of environmental engineering, Dean Fair. In addition to his own exemplary career, his living legacy includes hundreds of prominent practicing engineers and eminent professors who continue to emulate his values. He taught his students not only the technical aspects of the field but inspired them to use their skills to protect and enhance environmental quality.

Through the Fair Award, the Academy seeks to identify Board Certified Environmental Engineers, Members or Scientists who have contributed to the status of the environmental engineering or science professions by:

• Exemplary professional conduct
• Recognized achievements in the practice of environmental engineering and science
• Significant contributions to the control of the quality of the world's environment

Click here for the full criteria and nomination forms.

2024 Gordon Maskew Fair Award Recipient

Charles J. Newell, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE

Dr. Charles Newell holds the position of Vice President at GSI Environmental Inc. and is based in Houston, Texas. He is recognized as a Board Certified Environmental Engineer (BCEE) by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, a Certified Ground Water Professional by the National Ground Water Association (NGWA) and serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rice University. His academic and professional contributions are extensive, including co-authorship of four U.S. EPA publications, 12 environmental software systems, over 70 journal articles, five patents, and two books, notably “Natural Attenuation of Fuels and Chlorinated Solvents”.

Dr. Newell’s areas of expertise encompass site characterization, groundwater modeling, risk assessment, natural attenuation, LNAPL/DNAPL, remediation technologies, long-term monitoring strategies, technology transfer, and management of PFAS-impacted sites.  He has served as a Principal or Co-Principal Investigator in numerous environmental R&D projects sponsored by various agencies and organizations, including the U.S. Department of Energy, American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Defense, and diverse industrial clients.

Dr. Newell is the recipient of the Hanson Excellence of Presentation Award from AAPG, the Outstanding Presentation Award from AIChE, and the 2001 Wesley W. Horner Award from ASCE. Additionally, he received the 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award from Rice University, the 2014 Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) Project of the Year Award, the 2016 Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council (ITRC) Environmental Excellence Award, and the 2020 Foundation Achievement Award from the Association for Environmental Health and Science.

Past Recipients