Papers of Vujica M. Yevjevich

Vujica M. Yevjevich devoted his life to the study of hydrology. His impressive career spanned more than four decades and included projects in the United States and overseas. A professor of hydrology at Colorado State University's engineering department, Yevjevich also was an accomplished researcher, technical writer, international lecturer and consultant.

Yevjevich was born in a small town in Yugoslavia on October 12, 1913. He attended the University of Belgrade from 1932 to 1936, specializing in water resources engineering with a concentration on hydrology and hydraulics. Yevjevich's education was interrupted when he served in the Yugoslavian Army from 1936 to 1938, carrying out various engineering assignments in Belgrade. After this service, he returned to school at the University of Grenoble in France.

When Great Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, Yevjevich was in England. He returned to Yugoslavia, where he worked as an engineer and was put in charge of a special section for planning the hydraulic works on the Vardar River. During the invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany, he was taken as prisoner of war. Yevjevich was held as a prisoner of war from 1941 to 1943 in both Germany and Italy. After the war he returned home to Yugoslavia to work for the Ministry of Public Works and Electric Power Authority.

Yevjevich's first teaching assignment was at the University of Belgrade, Civil Engineering Department in 1946. While he was teaching at the University he also became the director of a special institute for water resources which was active in designing dams, tunnels, hydroelectric power plants and other structures in Belgrade. Shortly before leaving his job at the University of Belgrade, he earned his doctoral degree.

Yevjevich traveled to the United States in 1956 and spent the next four years working as a visiting scientist for the U.S. National Bureau of Standards and for the U.S. Geological Survey in Washington, D.C. Yevjevich traveled extensively throughout the United States and overseas. As a lecturer and consultant he visited many countries, including New Zealand, Ethiopia, India, Taiwan, China and Lebanon. Because of his water resources expertise, Yevjevich also worked as a civil consultant for the United Nations.

In 1960, Yevjevich accepted a position at Colorado State University in the engineering department. He spent the next 19 years teaching hydro-engineering, mainly to graduate students. During his life, he wrote over 200 papers and 23 books and co-founded, with his wife, a publishing company called Water Resources Publications.

Among his many accomplishments in academics and civil engineering, Yevjevich was recognized as one of the most influential engineers from Serbia and was elected to the Serbian Academy of Engineering. A museum in his hometown of Priboj, Yugoslavia, was named for him and, along with CSU and the University of Belgrade, will house many of his professional papers.

Yevjevich passed away on March 26, 2006, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. He was survived by his wife Mirjana and their three daughters, Vera, Branka, and Rada.