The Dworsky Award was established to encourage the study of the public administration of American water resources. The award is named after the Donor’s family members who attended the School of Natural Resources and went on to careers administering natural resources policy around the U.S. 

Eligibility: Graduate students enrolled in SEAS master's courses

Awards: 1 award per year of at least $2,000

Selection Criteria: The stipend award will be given to the student who submits the highest quality paper on American water resources governance. Possible topics include papers on governing/administrative institutions, water policy, management of water quality or supply, etc.

Application Process: Applicants must submit an essay on American water resources governance, including institutions, policies, and management of water quality and supply.

Students interested in being considered for this scholarship must complete the following application link https://tinyurl.com/bdcfu52y no later than 9:00 AM on Monday, April 21, 2025. The SEAS Scholarship Committee will review applications and select one (1) recipient for the scholarship. Once decisions have been made, applicants will be notified of their status. Non-compliant submissions will not be reviewed.

Background on the Dworsky Family and their history at SEAS:

To read Leonard Dworsky's memoir, "Add Water and Stir," click here.

Leonard B. Dworsky (1915-2008), B.S., Civil Engineering, 1936; B.A., Public Administration, American University, 1955; doctoral studies in the School of Natural Resources, 1955-56, achieved eminence in shaping national water resources policy in the 20th century. 

After graduation, he was a regional civil engineer in his home state of Illinois where one of his first tasks was to control a cholera outbreak at Manteo State Mental Hospital. He next became the chief engineer for Cook County, IL, before serving in the Army during World War II as a sanitary engineer and malaria control officer. After the War, as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, he was the first employee of the federal Water Pollution Control Administration (precursor to the Environmental Protection Agency) from 1948-1962. He shaped the initial organization, administration, and policies of an emerging federal role in water resources that, due to his leadership, treated river basins as ecological entities rather than a resource subject to the management of every local and state entity. Also in this position he served as the Director of the federal Missouri River Basin Interagency Committee as well as the Columbia River Basin Interagency Committee—new federal roles in comprehensive river basin management—where he initiated water quality monitoring programs, administered sewage works construction programs, developed regional plans for water supply and pollution control, and initiated legal action against interstate pollution sources.

Leonard designed and prepared the first national report on water pollution for the President’s Water Resource Policy Commission that identified 22,000 major pollution sources in 1950, and included industrial water use for the first time in the National Census (1955). He proposed policies that led to the Water Pollution Control Act of 1956 (authorizing stream flow regulation following proper waste management), the Water Supply Act of 1958, and the Safe Water Drinking Act of 1974. He was a member of the federal Water Resources Council and the United States Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. 

Upon retirement, Leonard directed the Cornell University Water Resources and Marine Sciences Center, retiring as Emeritus Professor in Civil Engineering (1964-94). As a professor, he established the Great Lakes inter-university policy seminars with other American and Canadian universities. As a member of the Expert Committee on Societal Affairs under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, provided critique and program assistance to the International Joint Commission which administers Canadian-American water resources policies from 1973-80. He conducted the first environmental training programs for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960’s, and published a documentary history of Water and Air Pollution in the United States in 1970. He also served as the water resources advisor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1967-68. Leonard received a Certificate of Recognition for his lifelong contribution and service to the field of water resources from the former Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability, Dr. Rosina M. Bierbaum, in 2005.

His son, Richard F. Dworsky, B.S.F., School of Natural Resources, 1965; M.S., Outdoor Recreation, University of Colorado, 1972; Ph.D, Water Resources, University of Massachusetts, 1986, served as the chief forester of Puerto Rico, and worked at the Interstate Commission on the Potomac, the Lake Champlain basin study of the New England River Basins Commission, and the Genesee Finger Lakes Planning Board before becoming the career chief planner for the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in Alaska, the State’s largest land management agency.

Another son, Donald L. Dworsky, B.A, Cornell University, 1970; M.S., Natural Resources Administration, School of Natural Resources 1971; J.D., University of Wisconsin, 1974, was the policy, legislative, and budget examiner for the unquantifiable natural resources such as fish, wildlife, historic preservation, and parks and recreation, including wilderness, trails and wild and scenic rivers, at the Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, under Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter, before working as an environmental protection specialist in the Office of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior where he was a member of the National Response Team for environmental emergencies.