The President of our Society received a letter from the ISSMGE Secretary:

Dear all,

We are sad to report the news that Dr Richard (Dick) Parry died recently. Dick was the Secretary General of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Foundation (later Geotechnical) Engineering (ISSMFE/ISSMGE) from 1981 to 1999.

Dr Parry became Secretary General in 1981, following the untimely death of Professor Kevin Nash; shortly before the International Conference in Stockholm.  He went on to serve a total of 5 Presidents: Victor de Mello, Bengt Broms, Nordie Morgenstern, Mike Jamiolkowski and Kenji Ishihara.  He consistently exhibited a passionate commitment to maintaining the essential international character of the ISSMGE. His calm and patient character, combined with considerable charm and superb diplomatic skills, played a major role in enhancing the status of the Society.

Dr Parry was an academic engineer of eminence with considerable experience as a practicing engineer. He was in industry in his early career, where he was responsible for geotechnical consulting and contracting projects throughout Australia and other countries in the region.  He then went to Cambridge University, where he became a distinguished teacher and researcher on many aspects of geotechnics.  He had a lifelong interest in the history of civil engineering and in later life wrote the books “Engineering the Pyramids” and “Engineering the Ancient World”.

Regards,

Dr Andrew McNamara

Secretary-General, ISSMGE