Professor Ian Acworth
The Presidents’ Award for 2013 was made by IAH President Ken Howard to Professor Ian Acworth. Ian grew up in England and graduated in Earth Sciences in 1973 and started his first job with Halcrows. Quickly realising he needed a further qualification in groundwater to be taken seriously by the engineers around him, he took the MSc in Hydrogeology at Birmingham University. He then worked in Nigeria until John Lloyd persuaded him to go back to Birmingham in 1979 to do a PhD on geophysical exploration for groundwater in the fractured rock aquifers he had become familiar with in Nigeria.
After returning to the consulting world at Wimpey Laboratories, but with a young family, Ian decided against further overseas work in difficult locations and in 1988 set off to Australia and the University of New South Wales. He has been there ever since, building up the teaching and research programme, establishing and developing the Connected Waters Initiative and is now the Gary Johnston Professor of Water Management. During this distinguished academic career, Ian has maintained research interests in the investigation of groundwater resources, geophysics, dryland salinity processes, coastal zones and contaminated groundwater, publishing widely in all of these.
Ian has been a member and active supporter of IAH for many years, as a member of the Australian National Committee and from 2004 to 2012 as IAH Vice President for Australasia and the Pacific. During this time his wise words in Council were always greatly appreciated.
