Dr. Gary L. Guymon is a retired civil engineering educator who accrued nearly 40 years of eminent experience in his field prior to retiring in 1994. A former professor of civil engineering at the University of California Irvine for two decades, he attained emeritus status in 1994. During his tenure at UC Irvine, he was also chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering for four years between 1984 and 1988. Prior to these appointments, Dr. Guymon excelled as an associate professor at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks from 1971 to 1974. He previously served as an assistant research engineer at the University of California Davis from 1969 to 1971 and commenced his career with the California Department of Water Resources in Los Angeles as an engineer in 1955, holding the role through 1966.
Supported by a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of California Davis from 1970, Dr. Guymon has been interested in water resources from a formative age. Growing up in Montrose, Colorado, he often visited the local rivers, where he wondered about the composition of the water, along with where the water went and from where it originated. Pursuing his interest in water shortly thereafter, he has made a pronounced career for himself in the fields of water resources and academia.
Upon his academic retirement, Dr. Guymon authored the book “Unsaturated Zone Hydrology” in 1994 and has also contributed several articles to professional journals. The associate editor of “Advances in Water Resources” in Southampton, England, from 1981 to 1989, he has maintained affiliation with Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi and Chi Epsilon. Alongside his primary feats, he was a coordinating board member of the University of California Water Resources Center in Berkeley from 1985 to 1989 and a delegate to the University’s Council on Water Resources in Carbondale, Illinois, from 1980 to 1994.
While his career has been abound with highlights, Dr. Guymon cites applying mathematical tools from his early papers from the early 1970s to solve groundwater issues as inspiring moments. His papers and other mathematical and engineering concepts that he developed have been cited extensively across the globe, as he would regularly receive requests from countries within Asia and Africa to read his papers. His research papers have likewise been used to study the existence of water on the planet Mars.
Looking toward the future, Dr. Guymon intends to continue enjoying his well-deserved retirement. Married to his wife, Lucinda, since 1988, he has four children: Gary Jr., Richard, Marisa and Michael. He is also the grandfather of two grandchildren, Lester and Abigail.