East, Lewis Ronald (1899 - 1994)

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 - Chairman, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria

1936 - 1965

Career position - Commissioner representing Victoria, River Murray Commission, Victoria

1937 -

Career position - Foundation member, Australian National Committee on Large Dams

c. 1937

Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London

1937

Award - King George VI Coronation Medal

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.

13 Sep 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

2010

Award (posthumous) - Hall of Fame, National Committee on Water Engineering, Engineers Australia - recognising individuals who have shaped the theory and practice of water engineering

Related entries

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. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/checchi-ettore-5570. 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

Edited Books

• Engineers Australia ed., Anything is possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders (Barton, A.C.T.: Institution of Engineers, Australia, 2019), 136 pp, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/2025-08/EA2_Anything%20is%20possible_0.pdf. 'Water in his veins - Sir Ronald East' p.26. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Kernot Memorial Medal - 1948 & 1949 Awards [Walter Eric Bassett, and Lewis Ronald East]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 21 (6) (1949), 107. Details
• 'Presidential Visit Overseas (1952) [L R East. W H H Gibson deputising]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 24 (12) (1952), 231. Details
• 'The president of The Institution for 1952 [ Mr. L. R. East CBE MCE MIEAust]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 24 (4-5) (1952), 95. 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 (12) (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 (9) (1969), N65. Details
• 'Past presidents - where are they now?', Engineers Australia, 50 (7) (1978), 20-22. Details
• 'Roderick becomes Hon FIEAust', Engineers Australia, 51 (15) (1979), 4. Details
• 'A long career in water: obituary [Sir Ronald East (1899 - 1994)]', Engineers Australia, 66 (4) (1994), 11. Details
• Dare, Henry Harvey; Woore, J. M. S.; East, Lewis R.; Fleming, H.; Osborn, A. F.; Wilson, W. Claude; McKay, R. T.; Dennis, S., 'Notes on some failures and unforeseen factors in the design of works (Discussions and communications)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 3 (12) (1931), 427-430. Details
• East, L. R., 'The Loch Gary flood protection scheme', Quarterly Bulletin, Institution of Engineers, Australia, 4 (1927), 312-. Details
• East, L. R., 'Irrigation and water supply in Victoria', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 6 (10) (1934), 389-393, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qoBqePp-bWhEbTQRXwS3CPX6O3E_oLb1/view. Details
• East, L. R., 'Introduction [One hundred years of engineering in Victoria]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 6 (10) (1934), 355, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WvVT-6D4kBUMyYz62ASMf2-x08RS1oEy/view?usp=drive_link. Details
• East, L. R., 'Swamp reclamation in Victoria', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 7 (3) (1935), 77-91. 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 [1953] - Engineered progress', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 25 (3) (1953), 29-33. 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., 'Profiles from the past: Alfred S. Kenyon', The Chartered Engineer Victoria, 8 (3) (1963), 6. Details
• East, L. R. (editor), 'One hundred years of engineering in Victoria. [Series of papers]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 6 (10) (1934), 353-420. Details
• East, L. R.; Crawley, R. L.; Burston, A. W., 'Swamp reclamation in Victoria (Discussions and communications)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 8 (9) (1936), 333-334. Details
• East, L. R.; Green, K. D.; Horsfall, R. A., 'The development and use of water resources in Victoria (Symposium)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 30 (1-2) (1958), 35-64. Details
• Ritchie, Edgar Gower; Robertson, W. A.; East, L. R.; Sanders, C. L.; Kelso, A. E., 'High earthen dams, with particular relationship to Silvan Dam for Melbourne Water Supply (Discussion)', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 3 (4) (1931), 133-135. 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', Journal 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

• 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