Person

Mead, Elwood (1858 - 1936)

Born
16 January 1858
Patriot, Indiana, United States of America
Died
26 January 1936
Washington, United States of America
Occupation
Civil engineer

Summary

Elwood Mead was born in the USA and came to Australia to act as Chairman of the Victorian State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (1907 to 1915). Prior to this he worked at Colorado State Agricultural College, rapidly becoming Professor of Irrigation Engineering. He then went on to become State Engineer in Wyoming and Director of irrigation investigations with the Department of Agriculture (1899-1907). He worked part time for the University of California at Berkeley during this last post. Once Mead returned to the States in 1915 he took up a position of Professor of Rural Institutions at University of California.

Lake Mead, the reservoir formed by the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona USA, is named after him.

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Details

Chronology

1882
Education - Bachelor of Science (BS), Purdue University, USA
1883
Education - Certificate (?) of Engineering (CE), Iowa State College of Agriculture, USA
1884
Education - Master of Science (MS), Purdue University
1899 - 1907
Career position - Director of Irrigation Investigations, Colorado(?) Department of Agriculture, USA
1904
Education - Diploma in Engineering, Purdue University
1907 - c. 1914
Career position - Chairman, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria
12 Jan 1909
Career event - Member (MInstCE), Institution of Civil Engineers, London
1911
Career position - President, Section H (Engineering and Architecture), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1915 - 1924
Career position - Professor of Rural Institutions, University of California, USA
1924 -
Career position - Federal Commissioner for Reclamation, USA

Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Published resources

Book Sections

  • Powell, J. M., 'Mead, Elwood (1858-1936), irrigation engineer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 10: 1891 - 1939 Lat-Ner, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1986), pp. 467-468. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100456b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

  • Baker, I. G., 'Elwood Mead in Australia', Aqua: Official Journal of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria, 2 (6) (1951), 3-11. Details

Resources

Rosanne Walker; Ken McInnes

Created: 30 June 1997, Last modified: 1 August 2023

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