Daniel A. Okun

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 9 dated events in the chronology →

1. 1955–1973 Daniel Okun heads UNC's Department of Sanitary Engineering Okun, who joined the UNC public health faculty in 1952, headed the Department of Sanitary Engineering from 1955 to 1973; it was renamed Environmental Sciences and Engineering in 1962, and it grew from three to 25 faculty members.Search the index · UNC Libraries: Daniel Alexander Okun Papers, 1933-2007
2. 1961 UNC considers the Jordan Reservoir for its water and Okun argues for Cane Creek While Okun was on sabbatical in 1961 the university began considering the Jordan Reservoir as a water source; on his return he persuaded the board that Cane Creek, which his students had studied in the 1950s, was the better site.Search the index · The Carolina Story: Cane Creek Reservoir (Water at UNC-Chapel Hill)
3. 1962 Sanitary Engineering is renamed the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering In the late 1950s Daniel Okun used Public Health Service money to widen the department into air hygiene, industrial hygiene and sanitary chemistry. In 1962 it took its new name and grouped its courses into five program areas, from water resources to radiological hygiene. People: Daniel A. OkunSearch the index · Robert Rodgers Korstad, Dreaming of a Time: The School of Public Health, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1939-1989 (1990), scan p. 121
4. 1969 Engineering study for UNC recommends a reservoir on Cane Creek After the 1968 drought left University Lake dangerously low, a study sponsored by the University of North Carolina and conducted by the engineering firm Hazen and Sawyer recommended damming Cane Creek. The Haw River, the proposed Jordan reservoir, an enlarged University Lake and the Eno were among the alternatives set aside. People: Daniel A. OkunCaselaw Access Project: In re Appeal from Environmental Management Commission, 53 N.C. App. 135 (1981)
5. 1970–1973 Daniel Okun serves as chair of the UNC faculty Okun was chair of the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1970 to 1973, while still heading his department.Search the index · The Carolina Story: Daniel Alexander Okun (1917-2007)
6. May 7, 1970 The general faculty votes to let striking students take their grades as they stand or finish coursework later With more than 4,000 students rallying outside, the general faculty meeting in Hill Hall overwhelmingly approved a substitute motion by Marvin Silver and Gerhard Lenski calling the strike 'a reasonable, peaceful and responsible course of action' and allowing final grades on work completed so far or delayed completion of course requirements, with a right of appeal. Faculty chairman Daniel Okun's letter the next day explained the policy as no penalties for strike absences and make-up exams for those who could not in conscience sit the scheduled exam. People: Joe Straley, Daniel A. Okun, Oscar Knefler RiceThe Daily Tar Heel, May 8, 1970, p. 1 (OCR text)
7. 1976 Cane Creek is chosen as the site of a new reservoir and area landowners organize against it A consultant's feasibility study concluded that Cane Creek, west of Carrboro, was the best site for a reservoir to supplement University Lake, and OWASA began assembling land there. Cane Creek residents and farmers formed a conservation group and fought the project in court for years, arguing that it would destroy farms and hasten the decline of agriculture and that expanding University Lake had not been properly considered. People: Daniel A. OkunANCHOR, A North Carolina History Online Resource: Cane Creek Reservoir
8. 2006 OWASA gives Daniel Okun a lifetime achievement award The Orange Water and Sewer Authority gave Okun a lifetime achievement award in 2006; the school credits him with leading the campaign to build the Cane Creek Dam and Reservoir in the 1980s.Search the index · UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health: Okun remembered for pioneering work in water engineering
9. December 10, 2007 Daniel Okun dies in Chapel Hill Okun, Kenan Professor of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, died in Chapel Hill of complications of leukemia at age 90.Search the index · The Carrboro Citizen: Daniel Okun (topic page)