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ABEL WOLMAN
June 10, 1892-February 22, 1989
BY M. GORDON WOLMAN
IN THEIR PAPER PUBElSHED in ~ 9 ~ 9 Abe! Wolman and Linn
EnsIow, employees of the Marylancl Department of Public
Health, clemonstratecl a method for controllecl chlorination
of drinking water supplies that transformer! water treatment,
providing safe drinking water throughout the worIcI. A
founcling member of the Water Pollution Control Fecleration
(now the Water Environment Fecleration), president of the
American Water Works Association, en cl president of the
American Public Health Association, Abel Wolman was a
major contributor not only in the science and engineering
of sanitation, pollution control, en cl water resources but
also in policy formulation in the broacl area of natural
resources. His contributions in public health ranged from
provision of water en cl wastewater treatment en cl urban en cl
regional planning to protection of the public in the pro-
cluction of atomic power, en c! in the use of radioactive
materials in medicine and industrial processes. As a professor
of sanitary engineering and founder of departments in
engineering en c! in the School of Public Health at Johns
Hopkins University, Wolman taught a host of graduate en cl
unclergracluate students from around the worIcI. He served
as a consultant on water supply en c! water resource manage-
345
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346
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
ment throughout the Uniter! States en c! the cleveloping woric!
with the WorIcl Health Organization and inclepenclently with
countries in the MicicIle East, Latin America, en cl Asia. An
engineer en c! professor, he was equally comfortable with
en cl similarly a teacher of students, plumbers, en cl politicians.
My friendship with my father, that I can recall, began
when I was about four. Some months before he flier! he
reminclecl me as we watchecl Charles Street traffic from his
home that we usecl to "count cars" together from the thircI-
floor Winslow at Eutaw Place en c! Whitelock street in a row
house in Baltimore. We counted separately Packards, LaSalles,
Chevys, Pierce Arrows, en cl others. Then too we walkocl-
en c! talker! to Druic! Park Lake Drive en c! back. The talk
clicl not stop until he cliecl on February 22, 1989. My father
en cl I workocl together, travelecl together, en cl reviewocl each
other's manuscripts. Perhaps the best-organizec! person I've
ever known, he was not rushed en cl hacl plenty of time for
me en cl the full life he en cl my mother shared. It is in part
from this vantage point that I write this memoir.
Abel Wolman was born in Baltimore, MarylancI, on
June 10, IS92. His parents, Louis en cl Rose (Wachsman)
Wolman, and his eldest brother had emigrated from Poland
en cl settlecl in the ghetto of east Baltimore. He en cl his five
siblings were eclucatecl in the public schools. Wolman, a
pre-mec! major, receiver! his B.A. degree from Johns Hopkins
University in 1913. In that year the university announced
the opening of the Engineering School, en cl he joined the
first class in civil engineering, receiving his bachelor's degree
in engineering in 1915. The story has it that his mother
clecIarecl that he shouIcl become an engineer, inasmuch as
there was aireacly one doctor in the family, his oiclest brother
Samuel. He married Anna Gordon in 1919, en cl they hacl
one chilcI.
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ABEL WOLMAN
347
Wolman's professional career began as a sanitary engi-
neer with the Marylancl State Department of Public Health
in 1914 after one year with the U.S. Public Health Service
sampling water in a stucly of water quality on the Potomac
River. The position with the health department primarily
involvecl inspection of water en cl wastewater treatment plants.
Nonetheless, uncler the tutelage of his boss, Robert B. Morse,
he was encouraged to pursue research en cl publication. A
singular bulletin of the department (Morse, 1921) inclucles
10 papers reprinter! from journals publisher! between 1919
en cl 1921, all are authored or coauthored by Abel Wolman.
One of these papers (1919), coauthored with Linn EnsIow,
a chemist in the department, clevelopec! a test for chlorine
absorption, which establishecl a controllecl method for
chlorination of municipal water supplies. The method,
assuring safe drinking water, was acloptec! woric~wicle, perhaps
the most important contribution to public health in the
twentieth century.
Focusing on a combination of engineering science en c!
practice, Wolman publishecl on the principles of rapicl sancl
filtration, on the probabilistic approaches to the assessment
of drinking-water supply quality, and on all phases of the
behavior of water and wastewater systems from raw water
quality to the financing of infrastructure. In aciclition to
publishing over several huncirec! papers, he eclitec! the To urn e]
of the American Water Works Association (1921-37) en cl
was associate editor of the American To urn e] of Public Health
~ ~ 923-27) en c! editor of Municipal Sanitation ~ ~ 929-35) .
Although a contemporary colleague of some, Wolman was
among the second generation of engineers in the "sanitary
revolution" that began in the nineteenth century, succeecI-
ing major figures in the Unitecl States such as Secigwick,
Fuller, Winslow, Whipple, and Hazen.
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348
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
In 1922 he became chief engineer of the Marylanc! State
Department of Health. In maintaining the close association
of sanitary engineering en cl public health en cl in the clevel-
opment of his career he was aisles! by Dr. William H. Welch,
one of the four leacling figures in the establishment of the
Johns Hopkins Meclical School en cl founder of the School
of Hygiene en c! Public Health. During the same perioc! he
workocl very closely with George W. Fuller, at one time
director of the Lawrence Experiment Station, site of original
work on filtration, chlorination, en c! water quality. Fuller
was perhaps the leacling consulting sanitary engineer in the
fielcl at the time. Wolman's association with him incluclecl a
trip to review water en c! wastewater practices en c! research
in leading centers in Europe. Responsible for environmental
regulation of the waters of MarylancI, Wolman helpecl to
clevelop water quality stanciarcis, and, reflecting his interest
in water resources planning and management, he was instru-
mental in establishing regional water en cl wastewater systems
as well as the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River
in the Washington en cl Baltimore metropolitan regions. Early
on, much of his job required convincing cities en cl towns to
install water treatment en c! wastewater systems, a task he
saicl was initially macle easier by the extraorclinarily high
typhoid fever rates experienced early in the century. Growing
evidence that provision of clean water remarkably reclucec!
the incidence of typhoid fever en cl convinced legislators to
appropriate funds for water and wastewater treatment plants.
While he grew impatient with what he consiclerec! mis-
guiclecl en cl sometimes excessive regulatory zeal in the last
quarter of the century "the bulk of my criticism is of speed
and ignorance" (Hollander, 1981, p. 633) he was a strong
administrator who clicl not blanch at forcing an industry
desiring to locate a plant in Marylancl cluring the depth of
the depression to meet attainable ambient water-quaTity
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ABEL WOLMAN
349
stanciarcis even at the risk of losing jobs shouic! the industry
choose to locate elsewhere. The industry compliecI.
First as a government officer en cl later as a consultant,
Wolman server! every mayor of Baltimore (nine in all) from
1914 until he cliecl in 1989. Beginning in 1931 en cl until his
cleath he was a consulting engineer on water supply, sewerage,
refuse clisposal, en c! management to the Baltimore City
Department of Public Works. The municipal builcling in
Baltimore is namecl the Abel Wolman Builcling. The builcling
is about five blocks from the east Baltimore "ghetto" in which
he grew up, a fact he notecl cluring the cleclication ceremony.
Over time Wolman's work in planning en cl clevelopment
encompasses! not only water en c! sewerage but also solic!
waste, transportation, en cl natural resources. He served as
chairman of the Marylancl State Planning Commission en cl
was the author of many studies cleating with management
of natural resources en cl urban infrastructure.
Wolman become chairman of the Water Resources Plan-
ning Committee of the National Resources Planning Boarc!
(1935-41) cluring the Roosevelt era. In aciclition to oversee-
ing the preparation of planning studies for the major river
basins in the Uniter! States, the committee exerciser! some
oversight over water projects proposal by the Corps of
Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. Although the
chief of engineers of the corps declared that prioritizing
their projects as proposed by the committee was impossible,
at the committee's insistence the corps compliecI. The com-
mittee initiates! a number of studies of specializes! topics
involving hycirology, hyciraulics, en cl public works. Of par-
ticular significance was the beginning of studies that lecl to
the first procedure for benefit-cost analysis of water projects
competed in 1950 by a different body.
In his role as chairman of the Water Resources Planning
Committee en c! spokesman for engineers en c! health pro-
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350
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
fessionals in national organizations Wolman became increas-
ingly involvecl in national policy issues. As his publishecl
papers indicate he espousal the importance of the clevelop-
ment of a national water policy. Describer! as a pragmatist,
he was also a planner who grew leery of grand plans. This
transformation is captured in several observations: "Well, I
did it, and it doesn't work" (Hollander, 1981, p. 439), and
more comprehensively: "Does our country want a planning
agency at the Fecleral level? The answer throughout our
history . . . is that it floes not want such an agency" (op. cit.
p. 435~.
Abel Wolman was among the first to call attention to
public health issues associates! with the clevelopment of atomic
energy. Against the initial opposition of distinguished mem-
bers of the atomic energy fraternity clescenclecl from the
Manhattan Project, he insisted! that public health officers in
the states en cl the broacler community of public health pro-
fessionals become involvecl in the debate over clevelopment
of atomic energy en c! the location of nuclear power plants.
Although not an opponent of nuclear power clevelopment
he became a member of the first Reactor Safeguards Com-
mittee he pusher! for recognition of the importance of
the clisposal of atomic wastes. He also stressed the necessity
for thorough characterization of the geologic, hydrologic,
meteorologic, en c! demographic conditions of prospective
sites for nuclear power plants. In helping to bring into the
decision-making process a broad spectrum of professionals
from beyond! the fecleral perspective from the Manhattan
Project and the early Atomic Energy Commission Wolman
was part of an emerging movement expanding both the
number en c! the professionalism of diverse interests involves!
in making public decisions (Balogh, 1991~.
Wolman was an active participant in the international
scene. Simultaneously with the establishment of the State
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ABEL WOLMAN
351
of Israel he began service as chairman of the consulting
committee on the clevelopment of the water system for the
State of Israel (in 1945), remaining in that position until
his cleath. He was an Divisor to nations in Southeast Asia,
inclucling India, Ceylon, en cl ThailancI, to many countries
in Latin America en cl Africa, in all to about 50 foreign
nations. As a member of the first U.S. clelegation to the
worIcl assembly at the founcling of the WorIcl Health Organiza-
tion, he lecl the effort to inclucle within WHO a program
focuses! upon water supply en c! wastewater, a mission omittec!
from the initial design that focused on the role of medicine
in achieving health. He returned regularly to Geneva as an
Divisor to the program to urge clevelopment of urban water
systems, early on insisting that even the very poor in villages
wouIcl pay for goocl water, a view then much contested but
now accepted.
Abel Wolman hacl a particularly long en cl close relation-
ship with colleagues in Latin America en cl in the Pan Ameri-
can Health Organization. He was a founder en c! honorary
president of AIDIS, the Interamerican Association of Sanitary
Engineering en cl Environmental Sciences, an organization
clevotec! to the education of sanitary engineers through pro-
vision of texts, development of educational programs, and
encouragement of students en cl faculty in the fielcI. Many
of the participants were former students. A new headquarters
established in 1998 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was named for him
when AIDIS celebratecl its fiftieth anniversary.
Charles ReVelle (1997), a colleague of Wolman's on the
faculty in environmental engineering, notes that "in a speech
to a lay audience in 1983, he explained his personal goals
for WHO in water supply. 'I want water for people to drink
en cl water for people to wash en cl chilciren that survive. Too
many chilciren are still crying."' His commitment en cl pleasure
in seeing occasional success in the cleveloping woric! was
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352
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
evident in a large well-known WHO photograph of a young
girl in Africa using her hands to drink from a tap. The
picture hung on the wall in the entrance hall to his home.
Wolman's work abroac! with mayors, governors, or heacis
of state mirrored his interest en cl style in this country. He
stressed what he callecl the "M's": motivation, money, manage-
ment, en c! manpower, maintaining a conviction that people
wouIcl clo much for themselves if given the opportunity. "I
know of no people who given the opportunity wouIcl not
wash themselves" (ReVelle, 1997~. He placer! reliance upon
electecl officials en cl civil servants en cl was unenthusiastic
about hyperbole in public rhetoric en cl hysteria in public
decision. At the same time, he participates! in many a public
brouhaha, inclucling an appearance before a hostile Kansas
state legislature, following a devastating floocI, clefencling a
plan of the consulting boars! of which he was a member,
the plan incluclecl construction of a number of reservoirs,
one of which wouIcl floocl an oIcl cemetery. Similarly he
enjoyed recounting how he attempted to defend a proposed
private leasing of oyster becis to a group of oystermen on
the eastern shore of Marylancl while preparing an escape
through a Winslow when the crows! grew unruly. A lifelong
student of politics and participant in public decision making,
my father enjoyed the company of politicians, observing, "I
have always been an amateur student of political relation-
ships" (HolIancler, 1981, p. 963~.
This aspect of my father's career is captured by Gilbert
White (1969, p. x), who observed
Probably Wolman's most pervasive influence is in the genre of thought and
presentation that shines only partly on the printed page. Rare is the national
organization or conference touching on water and environmental engi-
neering that has not felt the charm of his analysis of an issue of policy and
responsibility. Usually extemporaneous, always felicitous in expression, and
punctuated with gentle wit and a soft-spoken sarcasm, the typical Wolman
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ABEL WOLMAN
353
talk sums up the problems in a lucid framework and sends his audience
away smiling, a bit puzzled by some of the generalizations, and refreshed
by a train a thought that leads to a new perspective. A gift for asking the
pertinent but disarming question and for illuminating it in a sharp and
faintly ludicrous light has given both direction and relief to countless
administrative sessions, and has enlivened seminars and consulting boards.
Technical precision and insight blend with cultured urbanity.
Inclefatigable, he returnee! to urge passage of legislation
on bond issues in support of public works, sometimes a
clecacle after initial proposals hacl been rejected. Not one
to joust at wincimilis, he remained! both an optimist en c! a
realist, remarking on one occasion that one of the things
he likocl about working in India was that "graft incluclecl
provision for those who swept the floor as well as those at
successive levels to the top."
Throughout his life my father was a teacher. Beginning
in 1922 he taught part-time in the Johns Hopkins School of
Engineering en cl in the School of Hygiene en cl Public Health,
en cl in 1937 he became chairman of the Department of
Sanitary Engineering in the engineering school en c! chair
of the Department of Environmental Health Engineering
in the School of Hygiene and Public Health. The joint
appointment reflected! his view that the environmental
engineer shouIcl have a creep unclerstancling of the fielcl of
public health that encompassed fields such as epidemiology,
toxicology, en c! microbiology. Many in engineering clo not
accept this view, but in the history of the School of Public
Health, Fee ~ ~ 987, p. ~ 5 ~ ~ conclucles that at the university
Wolman successfully pusher! a reluctant faculty in the School
of Hygiene en cl Public Health to accept engineers in their
courses and physicians en cl health professionals were subjctecl
to engineering courses in water supply en c! wastewater, with
salutary results..
A popular lecturer to large classes at the School of Public
Health, in addition to graduate courses in sanitary engi-
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BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
peering, Wolman taught a course on the social, economic,
and financial aspects of engineering each year to senior
civil engineers, the course perhaps best reflected his view
of the broac! role en c! responsibility of an engineer. He
formally retired as professor at Johns Hopkins in 1965, but
maintained his office at the university, continuing in his
professional activities en c! perioclically giving lectures en c!
seminars. He hacl been scheclulecl to give a seminar two
clays after he cliecI. Because of his faithful attendance at the
clepartment's weekly seminars into his ninety-sixth year, out-
sicle speakers occasionally founcI, as they were criticizing a
work clone 60 years before, that the author was not only
still alive but was sitting in the room preparer! to offer a
question. Professor ReVelle again captured his role as a
teacher (1997~: "He assisted en cl acivisecl students for over
half a century. He always macle himself available for career
counsel en cl for encouragement.... To see him required
only a knock on the floor. Although he was incisive en cl
critical in technical matters, I cannot recall his offering
personal criticism of anyone."
In 1968 the departments of geography and of environ-
mental engineering science joined to become the Department
of Geography en cl Environmental Engineering. I became
chairman of the new department in 1970, thereby making
my father a faculty member in my department. The follow-
ing exchange of letters reveals a sense of humor not captured
in the recitation of accomplishments and awards.
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ABEL WOLMAN
September 24, 1976
Dean Owen
Homewood House
My Dear Dean Owen:
355
The new circular of the Johns Hopkins University dated June 1976 indi-
cates on page 320 that Abel Wolman D. Eng. is Professor Emeritus of
Mathematics, and Sanitary Engineering and Water Resources. While it is
important for the University to recognize the contributions of distinguished
faculty, as a member of the Academic Council over a period of years, I do
not recall having approved the appointment of Dr. Abel Wolman as Professor
of Mathematics (Emeritus or otherwise).
No doubt Dr. Wolman's contributions in Mathematics are not inconsid-
erable. However, I find no Teval records of his teaching performance in
Calculus 1, nor record of current student evaluations of his teaching at the
time of his appointment as Professor Emeritus of Mathematics. May I ask,
have the procedural requirements been met in this case?
Inflation of the apparent number of full Professors in the Department
of Mathematics at an earlier time could of course provide the basis for a
claim of restitution. Is the Department of Mathematics interested in Sanitary
Mathematics?
Thanks for your consideration.
Very truly yours,
M. Gordon Wolman
B. Howell Griswold
Professor of Geography
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356
September 27, 1976
Dr. M. Gordon Wolman
B. Howell Griswold, fir. Professor of
Geography and International Affairs
The Johns Hopkins University
513 Ames Hall
Baltimore, MD 21218
Dear Sir:
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
I have a copy of your strange letter to Dean Owen on my qualifications
as Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and other exotic subjects.
I have at last realized how King Lear must have felt when his children
turned upon him - "sharper than a serpent's tooth" or something like that!
In any event, the appointment gives me much gratification, when I have
just about mastered calculating with a slide rule.
The typesetter, who made this appointment, had an unusual awareness
that Johnny Hoskins U. could well stand a couple of professors who know
nothing about their subjects. He has a surprising acquaintance with the
modern "free university".
It would be expecting too much, I suppose, to have you make a public
retraction of your complaint, especially so close to the November election.
Sadly, your one-time father
Abel Wolman
Professor Emeritus of Too Many Things
A member of the National Academy of Sciences and the
National Academy of Engineering, Wolman was the recipi-
ent of numerous awards inclucling the Secigwick Mecial of
the American Public Health Association, a special aware! of
the Lasker Foundation, the Tyler Ecology Prize, the Health
for All Mecial of WHO, the Horton Mecial of the American
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ABEL WOLMAN
357
Geophysical Union, en c! the U.S. Mecial of Science. They
reflect his scientific en cl engineering contributions as well
as his leaclership in a lifelong effort to satisfy the aspira-
tions of human societies while protecting en c! enhancing
the environment on which society clepencis. At the turn of
the twenty-first century the Baltimore Sun newspaper clecIarecl
Abe! Wolman to be the Marylancler of the Century.
On the clay my father cliecl the university was hoIcling its
commemoration clay exercises at which I was to present a
cancliciate, a former student of his, for an honorary doctorate.
After a brief early morning conversation he saicl to me, "Go
clo what you have to clo!" I clicl see him again but at the
moment neither he nor I knew I wouicI.
I AM indebted to Walter Hollander, Tr., now deceased, author of the
oral history of Abel Wolman; to Gilbert F. White, editor of selected
papers of Abel Wolman; and to professors Tohn Boland and Charles
ReVelle for help in preparing this memoir.
REFERENCES
Balogh, Brian. 1991. Chain Reaction: Expert Debate and Public Partici-
pation in American Commercial Nuclear Power, 1945-1974. Cambridge
University Press.
Fee, Elizabeth. 1987. Disease and Discovery: A History of the Johns Hopkins
University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 1916-1939. Tohns
Hopkins University Press.
Hollander, W., Tr. 1981. Abel Wolman: His life and philosophy, an
oral history. 2 vol. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Universal Printing and Pub-
lishing Co.
Morse, R. B. (ed.~. 1921. Engineering Bulletin, Maryland State De-
partment of Health 1 ~ 1 ~ .
ReVelle, C. R. 1997. Abel Wolman: Remarks on the occasion of the
installation of Charles O'Melia as first occupant of the Abel Wolman
chair in environmental engineering at the Tohns Hopkins Uni-
versity.
White, G. F. (ed.~. 1969. Water, Health and Society: Selected Papers by
Abel Wolman. University of Indiana Press.
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358
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The complete works en cl bibliography of Abel Wolman
are available in the Hamburger Archives, Milton S. Eisenhower
Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.
1918
A preliminary analysis of the degree and nature of bacterial removal
in filtration plants. 7. Am. Water Works Assoc. 5:272-78.
1919
With L. H. Enslow. Chlorine absorption and chlorination of water.
J. Ind. Eng. Chem. 11:206-13.
1920
The statistical method in problems of water supply quality. Q. Publ.
Am. Stat. Assoc. 8:188-202.
1921
The small plant operator as scientist. 7. Am. Water Works Assoc. 8:359-61.
1925
Values in the control of environment. 7. Am. Public Health Assoc.
15:189-94.
1931
With A. E. Gorman. The significance of waterborne typhoid fever
outbreaks 1920-930. 7. Am. Water Works Assoc. 23:160-201.
1937
Problems in developing a national flood-protection policy. Proc. Am.
Soc. Civ. Eng. 63:429-39.
1938
The trend of civil engineering since Franklin.7. Franklin Inst. 226:413-28.
A century in arrears. 7. Am. Public Health Assoc. 29:1369-75.
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ABEL WOLMAN
1940
359
An inquiry into standards proposed for stream cleanliness. Sewage
Works f. 12:1116-20.
1948
Industrial water supply from processed sewage treatment plant effluent
at Baltimore, Maryland. Sewage Works f. 20: 15-19.
1953
Contributions of engineering to health advancement. Paper no. 2611.
Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng. Centen. Trans. CT:579-87.
1956
75 years of improvement in water supply quality. 7. Am. Water Works
Assoc. 49:825-33.
1957
Disposal of radioactive wastes. 7. Am. Water Works Assoc. 49:505-11.
Basic principles of a national water policy. Report of AWWA Committee
1130. 7. Am. Water Works Assoc. 49:825-33.
1959
Technical, financial and administrative aspects of water supply in
the urban environment in the Americas. Ing. Sanit. 13:1-31.
1960
Concepts of policy in the formulation of so-called standards of health
and safety. 7. Am. Water Works Assoc. 52: 1, 343-48.
1962
Water resources. A report to the Committee on Natural Resources.
Publication lOOOB. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences.
With A. Wiener. Formulation of national water resources policy in
Israel. 7. Am. Water Works Assoc. 54:257-63.
1965
Water Economics and politics. 7. Water Pollut. Control Fed. 37:145-50.
The metabolism of cities. Sci. Am. 213:179-90.
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360
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1975
Regional governmental dilemmas. Thomas R. Camp lecture. 7. Boston
Soc. Civ. Eng. Section ASCE 62:1-8.
1980
Some reflections on river basin management. Prog. Water Technol.
13:1-6.
1983
Reflections, perceptions, and projections. 7. Water Pollut. Control Fed.
55:1412-1416. (discussion 56 t1984] :7-10) .
1986
Is there a public health function? Annul Rev. Public Health 7:1-12.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
water supply
