Harold W. Walker is the Alena and David M. Schwaber Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Before coming to WPI, Dr. Walker was the Founding Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering at Stony Brook University. While at Stony Brook, he also co-founded and co-directed the New York State Center for Clean Water Technology. Dr. Walker began his academic career as a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geodetic Engineering at Ohio State University. He also served as the director of the Ohio Water Resources Center, the federally authorized and state-designated Water Resources Research Institute for the state of Ohio. Dr. Walker served on the Board of Directors for the National Institutes for Water Resources as well as the New York State Drinking Water Quality Council. Dr. Walker is a registered professional engineer. He has a BS in Environmental Engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and MS and PhD degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Walker's research focuses on understanding surface chemical processes in natural and engineered systems, with an emphasis on clean water. Areas of research include the fate and transport of manufactured nanomaterials, cyanotoxins, and other "emerging" contaminants in groundwater, lakes, oceans, and water-treatment plants; advanced wastewater treatment; and developing novel membrane treatment systems and membrane cleaning approaches. Dr. Walker has secured external funds to support his research from a number of sources, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF), US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), United States Geological Survey (USGS), Department of Energy (DOE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (through Sea Grant), and a variety of state agencies, industries, and other sources.