The American Water Resources Association (AWRA) is a nonprofit membership organization that, since 1999, has been headquartered in Middleburg. In 1981, probably the most important occurrence in AWRA's history happened. Kenneth D. Reid was named AWRA Executive Vice President. The Executive Vice President is the Chief Executive Officer of the organization. Ken has remained in that position for 37 years but will be retiring at the end of December. He is a natural leader. Besides being intelligent and thoughtful, he has an effusive, larger than life personality that draws people to him. He's very extroverted. I've heard it said that if there is a group of people collected on a street corner, an introvert will cross the street to avoid them whereas an extrovert will cross the street to join them. Ken will do that and shortly they will all be his friends.

AWRA was founded in 1964 in Urbana, Illinois, with a mission to promote an improved understanding of water resources and related areas by providing a multidisciplinary basis for information exchange, professional development, and education. In the 1970's, AWRA's headquarters was moved to the Minneapolis area, and in the 1980's to the Washington, DC area.

I joined AWRA in 1972. I had a paper accepted for presentation at the AWRA Annual Conference in St. Louis that year and made the decision to join them. I've never regretted it. I knew who Ken Reid was after he became Executive Vice President but didn't really get to know him until the 1990's when I took a more active role as a member of AWRA. In January 1999, I retired after a 37-year career with the U. S. Geological Survey and the Department of the Interior. Within a couple of months, I went to visit Ken to see if there were any job openings. At the time, AWRA was headquartered in Herndon, VA, about 15 minutes from my home. To make a long story short, Ken hired me on the spot to work part-time in a position that came to be known as Technical Director. Shortly thereafter, the AWRA headquarters was moved to Middleburg.

My original plan was to work for three or four years. It turned out to be more than 16 years. I retired from AWRA in 2015. Why did I stay so long? Two words, Ken Reid. Ken made AWRA such a stimulating work environment and put together such an excellent staff that it was not possible to leave. He trusted his staff, was not a micromanager, but also, very importantly, he did not suffer fools. To hear his enthusiastic "Hola" echoing through both floors of the office was something we looked forward to when he returned from a meeting. And my personal relationship with Ken was one of mutual respect that quickly became a strong friendship.

During his tenure, Ken adjusted to the times and accordingly AWRA adjusted as well. In the first decade of the 2000's, Ken supported the idea of a series of four water resources policy dialogues that AWRA sponsored in addition to our regular three conferences each year. These dialogues helped significantly increase AWRA's visibility in the national water resources community. Ken also became involved with the World Water Council as a member of its Board of Directors thereby increasing AWRA's visibility on the international stage. Under his leadership, AWRA's publications have become some of the very best in the field of water resources.

Membership in AWRA, in the beginning, was about evenly divided between academics and government scientists. But under Ken's leadership, AWRA has evolved and in 2018 is about evenly divided between academics, scientists from all levels of government, and consultants (practitioners) moving the mission in the direction of practical solutions for water resource problems. The diversity of membership is another AWRA accomplishment during Ken's tenure. The first female president was elected in 1987. In 2020, AWRA will have had 11 female presidents. In 1964, membership in AWRA was largely male. Now the numbers of male and female members are nearly equal.

I could go on and on about this amazing man and his accomplishments, but suffice to say, I feel honored to have had a great working relationship with him and a great friendship. My dear friend, I wish the absolute best to you and Pat as you start the next phase of your life.