About

John (Jack) Dempster Lawson was born on June 10, 1926 in Perth, Australia, and passed away on October 28, 1991 in Melbourne. He was educated as a civil engineer at the University of Western Australia in Perth from 1944 to 1949 and received a PhD title from the University of Aberdeen, UK in 1951. After having been associated with the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority, he joined the University of Melbourne as a senior lecturer in 1954 and there designed a new Hydraulics Laboratory. In 1962, this facility counted among the best in Australia. Lawson was involved in the 1960s with projects in coastal engineering, sediment transport, water hammer and environmental engineering. His collaboration into flow through and over porous media has been internationally recognized as a major contribution to practical dam design. Lawson was appointed Reader in 1964 and in 1970 took over as professor the chair of civil engineering. From the 1980s, he served in a number of committees and contributed significantly to the wealth of civil engineering in Victoria.

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Jack Lawson was associated with IAHR from 1980. He became an IAHR Council Member in 1982 and after two terms he was elected vice-president. During this time he organized the 1985 Melbourne IAHR Congress. At the 1987 Lausanne IAHR Congress, Lawson was elected president of IAHR until 1990. As of 1986, he was the Chairman of the IAHR Asia and Pacific Regional Division APD. Under his stimulating guidance the activities of the APD were successfully expanded. In council meeting discussions, Jack actively participated and had a sound judgment. As president he was a true and enthusiastic ambassador of IAHR. In 1989 when IAHR took up to reframe its objectives and was looking for new avenues to pursue, Jack’s views were of great help. He constructively proposed to incorporate systems management and wind erosion in the IAHR areas of activities. Lawson was missing during the 1990 APD bi-annual meeting in Beijing and the 1991 Madrid IAHR Congress because his illness already prevented him from attending then. He passed away at an age of 65 following a courageously borne illness.