Person
East, Lewis Ronald (1899 - 1994)
Kt CBE HonFIEAust
- Born
- 17 June 1899
Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia - Died
- 9 March 1994
Mount Waverley, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Engineer and Water supply expert
Summary
Sir Ronald East CBE MCE MInstCE HonFIEAust, was Chairman of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria from 1936 until he retired in 1965. He joined the Commission as a civil engineer in 1922, and was appointed a Commissioner in 1935. He was associated with the Snowy Mountains Project from its inception, as a Member of the Interim Advisory Council 1953 - 1958, and as a Member of the Snowy Mountains Council 1959 - 1965. He also represented Victoria on the River Murray Commission from 1936 until 1965.
His distinguished contributions to water supply engineering were recognised when he was awarded the Kernot Memorial Medal in 1949; was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951; was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal in 1957, and was Knighted in 1966.
Details
East had a keen interest in recording and conserving the history and heritage of water supply in Victoria, and many significant engineering heritage items remain today because of his guidance as a Commissioner. In this way, he appears to have followed in the footsteps of Alfred Kenyon, the commissioner that he replaced, when Kenyon retired in 1935.
Chronology
- 1918 - 1919
- Military service - First World War. Second Aircraft Mechanic, Australian Flying Corps
- 1919
- Career event - Foundation Student Member (StudIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1922
- Education - Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE), University of Melbourne [Completion delayed by military service]
- 1922 - 1965
- Career position - Civil engineer, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria
- 1924
- Education - Master of Civil Engineering (MCE), University of Melbourne
- 1925
- Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1927
- Career event - Associate Member (AssocMAmSocCE), American Society of Civil Engineers
- c. 1932
- Career event - Associate Member (AssocMInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 1935
- Career event - Member (MAmSocCE), American Society of Civil Engineers
- 1935 - c. 1965
- Career position - Member, Sludge Abatement Board, Department of Mines [as Commissioner SRWSC]
- 1935 - 1965
- Career position - Commissioner, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria [appointed following retirement of A S Kenyon]
- 1936
- Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1936 - 1965
- Career position - Commissioner representing Victoria, River Murray Commission, Victoria
- 1936 - 1965
- Career position - Chairman, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria
- 1937 -
- Career position - Foundation member, Australian National Committee on Large Dams
- c. 1937
- Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
- 1938 - 1962
- Career position - National Councillor, Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1947 - 1949
- Career position - Member, committee of technical experts that devised the Snowy Mountains Scheme
- 1949
- Award - Kernot Memorial Medal, for distinguished engineering achievement in Australia. Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne
- 3 Jun 1951
- Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) - Chairman - Victoria Water Supply Commission.
- 1952 - 1953
- Career position - President, Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1953 - 1958
- Career position - Member, Interim Advisory Committee, Snowy Mountains Project
- 1957
- Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1959 - 1965
- Career position - Member, Snowy Mountains Council
- 1960
- Award - Sir James Barrett Award
- 1965
- Life event - Retired
- 1 Jan 1966
- Award - Knight Bachelor (Kt) - Chairman - Victoria Water Supply Commission.
- 1968
- Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Members were designated Fellows on this date.]
- 1969
- Award - Honorary Fellow (HonFIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia
- 1981
- Award - Doctor of Engineering (DE), honoris causa, University of Melbourne
Related entries
Subordinate
Archival resources
State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection
- Lewis Ronald East - Records, 1967 - 1979, MS 8178, MS 10611; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details
Published resources
Book Sections
- East, Ronald, 'Checchi, Ettore (1853-1946), engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 7: 1891 - 1939 A-Ch, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1979), p. 628. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070635b.htm. Details
- Yule, Peter, 'East, Sir Lewis Ronald (Ron) (1899-1994), engineer and water commissioner' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 19: 1991 - 1995 A-Z, Melanie Nolan, ed. (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), pp. 245-247, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/east-sir-lewis-ronald-ron-29428. Details
Journal Articles
- 'Presidential Tour (1952) - W H H Gibson deputising for L R East', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 24 (1952), 231. Details
- 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal awarded to Mr L. R. East', Aqua: Official Journal of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria, 9 (3) (1957), 68. Details
- 'Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal: 1957 Award [L. R. East, CBE MCE MIEAust]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 29 (1957), 344. Details
- 'Farewell to Mr East.', Aqua: Official Journal of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria, 16 (7) (1965), 159-65. Details
- 'Chairman retires after record 30-year term as Commissioner', Aqua: Official Journal of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria, 16 (5) (1965), 100-105. Details
- 'Honorary Fellow of The Institution - Sir Ronald East CBE MCE HonFIEAust', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 41 (1969), N65. Details
- 'A long career in water: obituary [Sir Ronald East (1899 - 1994)]', Engineers Australia, 66 (4) (1994), 11. Details
- East, L. R., 'The Loch Gary flood protection scheme', Quarterly Bulletin, Institution of Engineers, Australia, 4 (1927), 312-. Details
- East, L. R., 'Swamp reclamation in Victoria', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 7 (1935), 77-. Details
- East, L. R., 'Swamp reclamation in Victoria [Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (1936), 333-. Details
- East, L. R., 'The faith of an engineer: a discussion of the land problem', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 17 (9) (1945), 183-90. Details
- East, L. R., 'Presidential address', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 25 (1953), 29-. Details
- East, L. R., 'Tribute to A. S. Kenyon', Aqua: Official Journal of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria (1957), 44. Details
- East, L. R. (editor), 'One hundred years of engineering in Victoria.', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 6 (10) (1934), 353-420. 'Irrigation and Water Supply in Victoria' pp.389-393. Details
- East, L. R. (editor), 'One hundred years of engineering in Victoria.', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 6 (10) (1934), 353-420. 'Introduction' p.355. Details
- East, L. R.; Green, K. D.; Horsfall, R. A., 'The Development and Use of Water Resources in Victoria', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 30 (1958), 35-. Details
Reports
- Institution of Engineers Australia, Thirty-eighth Annual Report [1957] (1958), 16 pp. 'Prizes - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal (1957 Award), to Mr L R East, CBE MCE MIEAust, Melbourne Division', p.2. Details
Resources
- 'Parallel Irrigation Development - United States and Australia', Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, https://doi.org/10.1061/TACEAT.0006909. Details
- 'Discussion on Water Supply Problems of a Desert Region', Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, https://doi.org/10.1061/TACEAT.0004128. Details
- CA 2001 Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office, 'NAA: B2455, East L R', B2455 First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=3532690. Details
- 'Correspondence. The subsidence of a rockfill dam and the remedial measures employed at Eildon reservoir, Australia', Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Civil Engineers, https://doi.org/10.1680/ijoti.1938.14599. Details
- 'Water-supply problems in Australia [Selected Engineering Paper No.141]', Selected Engineering Papers, Institution of Civil Engineers, https://doi.org/10.1680/isenp.1933.13470. Details
- 'East, L R (18990617-19940309)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1035038. Details
- 'Awarded honorary DE, 1981', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details
See also
- Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers Australia, 2019), 136 pp. 'Water in His Veins - Sir Ronald East' p.26. Details
- Lay, M. G., '20th Century Victorian Engineers - Case studies of engineers as leaders in Victoria from 1890 to 1990', in Fourth International Conference on Engineering Management, 1994: Preprints (Barton, ACT: Institution of Engineers Australia, 1994), pp. 7-12., https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.220235441294955. Details
Gavan McCarthy [P004098]; Ken McInnes
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 29 November 2023
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education