Vit Klemes (born Vít Klemeš; 30 April 1932,

Podivín Podivín (german: Kostel) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is border ...

– 8 March 2010) was a Canadian

hydrologist Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is calle ...

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

origin.

Bipgraphy

Klemes received a Civil Engineering degree (Ing) from the

Brno University of Technology Brno University of Technology (abbreviated: ''BUT''; in Czech: Vysoké učení technické v Brně – Czech abbreviation: ''VUT'') is a university located in Brno, Czech Republic. Being founded in 1899 and initially offering a single course ...

, a CSc degree (a local equivalent of PhD) in hydrology and water resources from the Slovak Technical University in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

and a DrSc degree from the

Czech Technical University Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU, cs, České vysoké učení technické v Praze, ČVUT) is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic with 8 faculties, and is one of the oldest institutes of technology in Central Europe. It ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Following the Soviet-led invasion of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, Klemes and his family came to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in September 1968. There he obtained a position of associate professor at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, first in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and later in the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering. In 1972, he was appointed research

at the National Hydrology Research Institute of Environment Canada, a position he held for 17 years; after the institute's move from

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, he also served as its chief scientist. From 1990 to 1999 he was a water resources consultant in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

where he continued to live after his retirement until his death. During his career Klemes has authored about 150 scientific and technical publications, lectured extensively on all five continents, was visiting professor at the California Institute of Technology (

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Monash University in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Agricultural University (BOKU) in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the

University of Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 w ...

, and in 1994 was appointed Invited Professor at Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique of Universite du

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. In 1987, he was elected President of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) and his work has been recognized by a number of awards; among other, he received a Gold Medal from the Slovak Academy of Sciences (1993), the International Hydrology Prize from the IAHS (1994), the Ray K. Linsley Award from the American Institute of Hydrology (1995) and the

Ven Te Chow Ven Te Chow (; October 7, 1919, Hangzhou, China, – July 30, 1981), was a Chinese-American engineer. He was a widely recognized hydrologist and hydraulic engineer, acclaimed for his contributions to hydrology and water resources development. He w ...

Award from the American Society of Civil Engineering (1998)

Publications

Common Sense and other Heresies - Selected Papers on Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering by Vít Klemeš, ed. by C. David Sellars (2000)An Imperfect Fit - Advanced democracy and human nature by Vit Klemes (2004)

References

Šútor, J. (2002): Anniversary of Vít Klemeš. J. Hydrol. Hydromech., Vol. 50, No. 1, 67-70.Svoboda, A. (2007): Again an anniversary of Vít Klemeš. J. Hydrol. Hydromech., Vol. 55, No. 2, 142-144.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klemes, Vit 1932 births 2010 deaths People from Břeclav District Canadian people of Czech descent Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada Canadian hydrologists Czech Technical University in Prague alumni Engineers from British Columbia Scientists from British Columbia Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava alumni