Sharon B. Megdal is Director of The University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center and C.W. and Modene Neely Endowed Professor.  She is Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and the Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science and serves as Director of The University of Arizona Water Sustainability Program, which is funded by the Technology Research Initiative Fund (TRIF).  In 2010, Dr. Megdal was named Distinguished Outreach Professor.

Her work focuses on state, regional and transboundary water resources management and policy, on which she writes and frequently speaks, and places particular emphasis on how to achieve desired policy objectives in terms of institutional structures and possible changes to them.  She authors a water policy column for the WRRC’s newsletter.  Current projects include: water planning and management in growing, arid regions; mechanisms to secure water for environmental needs; water pricing; and transboundary aquifer assessment.  Dr. Megdal teaches the multi-disciplinary graduate course Arizona Water Policy.  She serves as an elected member of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District Board of Directors, which oversees the Central Arizona Project.  Dr. Megdal has served on numerous state boards and commissions, including the Arizona Corporation Commission, the Arizona State Transportation Board, and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Water Sustainability.  Sharon B. Megdal holds a Ph.D. degree in Economics from Princeton University.