Dennis Horn, Ph.D., P.E.

Dean of Engineering

Dr. Dennis R. Horn, Dean of Engineering & Applied Science and Professor of Civil Engineering at Gonzaga University, has had a 40-year career spanning the public and private sectors, with experience in teaching, research, consulting, and senior management and administration.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in Geological Engineering and a Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University, Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences and Water Resources.  From 1974-83 he headed the Water Resources Division of Anderson-Nichols & Co., a large Boston-based engineering firm, where he was Senior Vice President.  He also formerly served on the faculties of Northeastern University and the University of Idaho, and held the position of Dean of Engineering, Mathematics, and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville before coming to Gonzaga in 1997.

Dr. Horn has performed extensive engineering services and conducted research studies in the technical areas of hydrology, sustainability, floodplain management, water supply, water quality, and risk assessment for droughts.  He has worked on or supervised projects in more than a dozen states and two foreign countries, with clients that have included the World Bank, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to name a few.  As part of his consulting activity, for seven years he served as a member of (and ultimately chaired) the Army Science Board, the 100-person advisory board to the Secretary of the Army, and in 1990 was awarded the Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the Secretary of the Army for his work.  During his career, he has authored numerous reports, technical papers, and journal articles related to all aspects of water resources engineering, environmental planning and policy, and sustainability.