Little, Donald James (1926 - )

Summary

Don Little, AO FTSE BCE EWS HonFIEAust, was Director-General of the Public Works Department, Victoria between 1976 and 1986, and Chairman of the Environment Protection Authority, Victoria 1974 to 1976. Before then he was a Commissioner and senior engineer of the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria.

He was active within the engineering profession as a Councillor and President of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1983, and its engineering education enterprises.

His distinguished contribution to engineering was recognised when he was awarded the Warren Memorial Prize in 1965; was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1985 for public service, particularly in the field of engineering education; awarded Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE); was awarded an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 1989; and was awarded the Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal in 1990.

Details

Chronology

1947

Career event - Student Member (StudIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1948

Career position - Assistant Engineer, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria

1948

Education - Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE), University of Melbourne

1950

Career event - Junior Member (JrIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1955 - 1956

Career position - Resident Engineer, Cairn Curran Dam, Loddon River, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria

1956 - 1958

Career position - Resident Engineer, Glenmaggie Dam, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria

1958

Career event - Granted Certificate as Engineer of Water Supply (after examination), Water Acts VIC

1958 - 1959

Career position - Resident Engineer, Tullaroop Dam, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria

1959

Career event - Associate Member (AMIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1960

Career position - Resident Engineer, Eppalock Dam, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria

1960 - c. 1965

Career position - Senior Executive Engineer (Dams), State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, Victoria

1963

Career event - Member (MIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1965

Award - Warren Memorial Prize, Institution of Engineers Australia

1968

Career event - Fellow (FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia [Former Members were designated Fellows on this date.]

1971

Career event - Overseas study for Victorian Government into multi-objective management of natural resources, water resources management and environment protection.

1971 - 1974

Career position - Deputy Commissioner, representing Victoria, on the River Murray Commission

1971 - 1974

Career position - Commissioner, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (SRWSC), Victoria

1971 - 1974

Career position - Deputy Member, representing Victoria, on the Snowy Mountains Council

1972

Career position - Project Manager, SRWSC, for Awash Valley UNDP/FAO project, Ethiopia

1972 - 1974

Career position - Member, representing SRWSC, Environmental Protection Council, Victoria

1972 - 1974

Career position - Member, representing SRWSC, Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD)

1974 - 1976

Career position - Member and Chairman, Environment Protection Authority, Victoria

1976 - 1986

Career position - Director-General, Public Works Department, Victoria

1979 - 1980

Career position - Chairman, National Public Works Conference (NPWC)

1979 - 1985

Career position - Member, Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne

1980

Career position - Chairman, Victoria Division, Institution of Engineers Australia

1983

Career position - President, Institution of Engineers Australia

1985

Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) - for public service, particularly in the field of engineering education

1985 - 1989

Career position - Inaugural Chairman, Australian Council for Tertiary Awards (ACTA)

1987

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

1987 - 1988

Career position - President, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)

1987 - 1989

Career position - Director, Strarch lnternational Ltd [A company with worldwide intellectual property rights to an innovative structural engineering building system]

1989

Award - Honorary Fellow (Hon.FIEAust), Institution of Engineers Australia

1990

Award - Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal - Career Achievement Award in Engineering. Institution of Engineers Australia

1990

Career position - Director, Australian Engineering Foundation Ltd [Institution of Engineers Australia]

1990 - 1997

Career position - Chairman, Engineering Education Australia

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - for service to Australian society in civil engineering

Related entries

Published resources

Conference Papers

• Little, D. J.; Marquet, J. W., 'Computer methods for inter-professional construction co-ordination', in Engineering Management Conference 1979, Melbourne March 21-22 (Institution of Engineers Australia, 1979), pp. 64-67.. Details

Journal Articles

• 'Institution News and Notes - Prizes [1965: R. W. Chapman Medal; Warren Memorial Prize; Electrical Engineering Prize; Mechanical Engineering Prize; The Institution Awards. 1966: Edward Noyes Prize; J. R. Bainton Prize; R. J. N. Franki Medal]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 39 (1-2) (1967), N20-N21. 'Warren Memorial Prize (1965) - to Mr M Heitlinger, AMIEAust, Mr T S Moffatt, BEE AMIEAust, and Mr D J Little, BCE MIEAust, for paper "Design and Construction of Eppalock Earth and Rockfill Dam, and Turbine-Pumping Station, on the Campaspe River, Victoria", Journal of the Institution of Engineers Australia, Oct-Nov 1965'. Details
• 'Leading engineer to chair new education body' (1985). Don Little appointed as inaugural chairman of Australian Council for Tertiary Awards (ACTA). Details
• Currey, D.T.; Michels, V.; Little, D.J., 'Bellfield Dam Victoria (and Discussion)', Civil Engineering Transactions, 10 (1968), 73. Details
• Heitlinger, M.; Moffat, T. S.; Little, D. J., 'Design and Construction of Eppalock Earth and Rockfill Dam, and Turbine-Pumping Station, on the Campaspe River, Victoria [and Discussion]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 37 (1965), 325-. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, 'Great Public Works career [Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal]', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 62 (24) (1990), 34. Donald James Little, a former IEAust president (1983), won this year's Peter Nicol Russell Memorial Medal. [includes biography]. Details
• Paine, Justin, 'Don Little: New IEAust President - 'At the heart of economic recovery'', Journal of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 55 (8) (1983), 16-20. Details

Reports

• Institution of Engineers Australia, Forty-seventh Annual Report [1966] (1967), 18 pp. 'Warren Memorial Prize (1965 Award) to Mr M Heitlinger, AMIEAust, Mr T S Moffat, BEE AMIEAust, and Mr D J Little BCE MIEAust, for their paper entitled "Design and Construction of Eppalock Earth and Rockfill Dam, and Turbine-Pumping Station, on the Campaspe River, Victoria"', p.2. Details
• Institution of Engineers Australia, Annual Report 1989 [Seventieth Annual Report] (1990), 36 pp. 'Honorary Fellows - Council elected Mr Donald James Little, AO, as Honorary Fellow', p.26. 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