CEE Professor Gilberto Urroz Retires

Aug. 27 2019 — Faculty and staff at the College of Engineering extend a heartfelt thanks and best wishes to retiring faculty Gilberto Urroz who retired this summer.

Urroz, an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, began his career at Utah State University in July of 1988, back when USU had 9,000 students and Ronald Reagan was still president. Before coming to USU, Urroz earned a PhD in hydraulics at the Iowa Institute of Hydraulic Research from the University of Iowa.

For the first six years of his career, Urroz taught intermediate fluid mechanics a total of 30 times. Starting in 1994 he took on teaching other courses: computer programming, numerical methods, hydraulics, dynamics, open channels, unsteady flow in open channels, hydrology, water resources systems, fluid mechanics for mechanical engineers, and hydraulic design.

Besides teaching courses, Urroz dedicated his free time to serving as an academic advisor for the student chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Tau Beta Pi Honor Society. These opportunities provided him with life-fulfilling experiences like traveling to conferences across the nation and meeting Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, one of his childhood heroes.

Urroz also collaborated with the Utah Water Research Lab where he participated in research projects related to mountain streams, hydraulic structures, soil erosion and groundwater contamination. This included amazing opportunities with trips to Alaska, Denali National Park and the Kenai península.

Urroz is moving on and retiring to Mexico where he will continue producing educational materials in engineering, swimming in the Sea of Cortés under the hot Sonoran desert sun and enjoying authentic Mexican food.

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Writer: Carson Wolf, eng.marketing@usu.edu