Ray Krone, a professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Davis, who is known for improving the design of harbors and waterways, has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, it was announced today. Among the highest professional distinctions accorded engineers, election to the Washington D.C.-based organization recognizes important contributions to engineering theory and practice. Krone, who retired in 1988 after 38 years of teaching, research and administration at UC, was elected for his studies of sediment movement, by tidal currents and waves, in harbors and estuaries. One of the models developed by his graduate students is used now worldwide in the design of harbors and for predicting sediment movements in estuaries. Throughout his career, Krone has helped design many harbors and wharves in the San Francisco Bay area and has served as a consultant for major harbor projects throughout the country. His expertise is in designing harbors and waterways so that very little sediment accumulates. "The rewards come from owners finding that they don't have to dredge so much," said Krone. His graduate students have gone on to jobs in academia and in private industry, applying knowledge developed with Krone on the dynamics of particles -- including components of pollution -- that are transported by water and air. The engineer's introduction to sediment transport started in 1957, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asked the university to develop radioactive-tracer technology for studying the movement of sediments in rivers, bays, harbors and deltas. At the time, Krone worked as a researcher at UC Berkeley, where he had earned his bachelor's degree in soil science and his master's and doctoral degrees in sanitary engineering. He joined the UC Davis faculty as an associate professor in 1964 and shortly afterward initiated an environmental engineering program on campus. Over the years, he served as department chair and as associate dean for research in the College of Engineering. In addition to his teaching, research and private consulting, Krone has actively assisted various government agencies with projects. Since 1975 he has served as a consultant to the Committee on Tidal Hydraulics for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He also has served as a consultant for both the U.S. and state Attorney General, and is former chair of a National Research Council committee that investigated ways of controlling sedimentation. Krone was one of 77 engineers and eight foreign associates elected to the academy this year. He was one of five from the University of California system, and is the seventh in the history of the UC Davis College of Engineering. "Ray Krone is not only a distinguished engineer, he is a splendid college citizen," said M.S. Ghausi, dean of the College of Engineering. "We are very pleased that Ray is receiving this well-earned recognition of his contributions to the engineering profession." In addition to his teaching and research, Krone has contributed years of service to the campus. Among his many roles, he has been chair of the committee overseeing the design and construction of and transition to the new Engineering II building, of which he is "very proud." The National Academy of Engineering is a private organization established in 1964. It shares in the responsibility given the National Academy of Sciences under a congressional charter to advise the federal government on questions of science and technology.