With three degrees from Virginia Tech in hand, Linvil G. (Gene) Rich went on to become Dean of Engineering at Clemson University, establish one of the first environmental engineering departments in the nation, and create a wastewater treatment system used around the world.



After serving as an infantry squad leader in Gen. George Patton's Third Army during World War II, Gene Rich came to Blacksburg with his wife, Peggy, and finished working on a B.S. in civil engineering. Completing his undergraduate degree in 1947, he stayed at Tech to earn an M.S. in sanitary engineering in 1948 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1951.



Dr. Rich taught at his alma mater for five years, at the same time serving as a sanitary engineer in the Navy's Medical Service Corps Reserve. He then spent a year as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Public Health Service Reserve, helping people in Bolivia build sanitary wells and privies. After a five-year stint teaching at the Illinois Institute of Technology, he was recruited by Clemson in 1960 as Head of the Department of Civil Engineering.



Upon the sudden death of Clemson's Dean of Engineering Walter Lowry, Dr. Rich, who had been at the university only six months, was asked to take the post. His 11 years as Dean were highlighted by the establishment of seven doctoral programs and a prototype department of environmental engineering that brought an interdisciplinary approach to the field. During this time Dr. Rich also wrote three ground-breaking textbooks, Unit Operations of Sanitary Engineering, Unit Processes of Sanitary Engineering, and Environmental Systems Engineering.



Active in service to his profession, Dr. Rich was a founding member and director of the Association of Environmental Engineering Professors (AEEP), a trustee of the Environmental Engineering Intersociety Board, a member of the advisory boards for research grant programs of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its predecessors, and a member of the board of trustees of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. He is a licensed P.E. in South Carolina, Illinois and Virginia, and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).



After he retired as Dean of Engineering in 1972, he began perfecting a multi-cellular aerated lagoon system that provides effective wastewater treatment in less space and at less cost than previous lagoon systems. Dr. Rich's system is used in warm-climate locations throughout the U.S. and in other nations. In 1979, he published a book, Low Maintenance Mechanically Simple Wastewater Treatment Systems, and a related paper that earned the 1983 Rudolph Hering Medal from the ASCE. The National Wildlife Federation presented its Exceptional Service Award to Dr. Rich in 1984 for his contributions to the field of environmental engineering. In 1997 he received the Founders Award from the AEEP.



Dr. Rich retired from teaching at Clemson in 1987 as an Alumni Professor Emeritus, but he continued to conduct research there. In 1991, the university opened the Linvil G. Rich Environmental Research Laboratory, which houses the environmental engineering department he established. Clemson dedicated the building to Dr. Rich as "A true visionary and pioneer of environmental engineering education."



Gene and Peggy Rich have one surviving son who also lives in South Carolina. Dr. Rich currently has another book, High-Performance Aerated Lagoon Systems, in publication.