Mary Fran Myers, co-director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has received the highest national award given by the Association of State Floodplain Managers.
In receiving the 1997 Goddard-White Award, Myers was cited for two decades of leadership in flood-plain management in government and academia. She is credited with encouraging a multidisciplinary approach among flood-plain managers and for linking hazards management and sustainability.
The award is given "to individuals who are highly instrumental in carrying forward the goals and objectives of flood-plain management throughout the nation." The award has been given 10 times since it was established in 1984.
The award is named after CU-Boulder Gustavson Distinguished Professor Emeritus Gilbert F. White, former director of the Natural Hazards Center, and the late James E. Goddard of the Tennessee Valley Authority, two pioneers of the basic concepts of flood hazard management used today. White was present when Myers received the award April 30 at the association's annual conference in Little Rock, Ark.
Last year the Goddard-White Award was given to James Lee Witt, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.