Keith Beven wrote his first hydrological model as an undergraduate in 1970, trying to predict the runoff generation on Exmoor during the Lynmouth flood. Since then, he has been involved with many of the major rainfall-runoff modelling innovations, including TOPMODEL, the Système Hydrologique Europèen (SHE) model, the Institute of Hydrology Distributed Model (IHDM), and Data-based mechanistic modelling (DBM). In 1991 he was awarded the American Geophysical Union Horton Award for fundamental contributions to the understanding and prediction of runoff production, particularly the role of topography and soil structure, in natural catchments. He has been Professor of Hydrology and Fluid Dynamics at Lancaster University since 1992.