Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Mound City
B.S. Ag Engineering ,
M.S. Ag Engineering ,
John Madden began his engineering career working at a regional design center of the Soil Conservation Service in Lincoln, Nebraska, from 1961 to 1965. He earned an M.S. degree in agricultural engineering from South Dakota State University while on the SDSU water resources institute staff from 1965 to 1972. There he established the Water Quality Laboratory and performed research in the effects of irrigation water quality on irrigated soils and the quality of livestock feedlot runoff. Madden served over 30 years as a consulting engineer, on the staff of DeWild Grant Reckert and Associates (DGR) in Rock Rapids, Iowa. At DGR he focused on project development and was instrumental in organizational design, construction and expansion phases of 15 “Rural Water System” in South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa and Montana. He served as president of DGR from 1987 to 2003, was a registered professional engineer in six states and was active in community organizations.