John W. Harshbarger was the original department head of the Department of Hydrology and Water Resources from 1966-1968.  He earned his B.S. in Mining Engineering from Texas College of Mines (now the University of Texas-El Paso) in 1942.  He then went on to earn an M.S. in 1948 and Ph.D. in 1949, both in Geology at the University of Arizona.

 

Harshbarger, through a combination of vision, persuasiveness, and professional reputation, contritubed very significantly to both the practice of groundwater hydrology in Arizona and to the founding of a nationally prominent research and teaching department of Hydrology and Water Resources at the University of Arizona. 

 

To call him the orignal and founding father of the department would be an accurate but highly incomplete description of his influence and importance to the institution. 

 

His was the experience that led to the vision of what a department could be and would do in the professional sense.  He had the personality and determination  to see the department through its birth, infancy, and maturity.  He served as a professional role model, mentor, teacher, colleague, and friend to students and faculty alike.

 

The Rest of the Story:  Read more about the fascinating story of John Harshbarger's life and the founding of the department, as well as his impact on Arizona's water resources, here (mini chapter format).  NOTE: Some of the faculty names mentioned have hyperlinks to other biographical information.