George Tchobanoglous is a professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California at Davis. He received a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of the Pacific, an M.S. degree in sanitary engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Stanford University. His principal research interests are in the areas of solid waste management, wastewater treatment, wastewater filtration, aquatic systems for wastewater treatment, and individual onsite treatment systems. He has taught courses on these subjects at UC Davis for the past 32 years. He has authored or coauthored over 350 technical publications including 12 textbooks and 3 reference books. He is the principal author of a textbook titled Solid Waste Management: Engineering Principles and Management Issues, published by McGraw-Hill. The textbooks are used in more than 200 colleges and universities throughout the United States, and they are also used extensively by practicing engineers in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Tchobanoglous is an active member of numerous professional societies. He is a corecipient of the Gordon Maskew Fair Medal and the Jack Edward McKee Medal from the Water Environment Federation. Professor Tchobanoglous serves nationally and internationally as a consultant to governmental agencies and private concerns. He is a past president of the Association of Environmental Engineering Professors. He is consulting editor for the McGraw-Hill book company series in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering. He has served as a member of the California Waste Management Board.