Faculty Profile
Alan Jackman

Professor Emeritus,
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science

Alan Jackman, who received his Ph.D. from the Uaniversity of Minnesota, hadn’t really considered a career in teaching. But when his advisor urged him to look into an opening at UC Davis for a chemical engineer with environmental interests, he decided to apply. Then-associate professor Steve Whitaker met Jackman at the train station, riding a bike and pulling another one alongside. "Jump on," Whitaker said, and Jackman did. He accepted the position and rode his bike to work every day, rain or shine, until he retired 36 years later in 2006.

For someone who hadn't planned to be a teacher, Jackman has been particularly apt and passionate. He received the 2004-05 UC Davis College of Engineering Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award. "The most gratifying single event in my career," he says. A slate of other teaching and advising awards illustrates the high regard Jackman’s students have for him, as does the undergraduate scholarship that has been created in his name by a former student—Pam Fair, vice president of customer operations at San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co.

But Professor Jackman is more than a great teacher. He is an internationally respected researcher in environmental and biochemical engineering. A leading authority on the saturated areas beneath streams, his research has particular importance in the management of environmental contaminants.