Professor James Dooge is one of the most eminent engineers to have come out of Ireland. Following a degree in Civil Engineering at University College Dublin, graduating in 1942, he pursued the early years of his career in the practice of main river improvement and hydro-electric design under many distinguished Irish engineers of the period. Under the influence of the late Vernon Hardy, his lifelong interest in hydrology was stimulated. This was followed by his Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from University College Dublin in 1952 and, unusually, his MSc degree in Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics from the University of Iowa whilst on leave of absence in 1956. In 1958 he was appointed Professor of Civil Engineering at University College Cork where he remained for twelve happy and fruitful years. It was here that he established his academic credentials by leading the many advances in the application of linear systems theory to hydrology in general and rainfall run-off modelling processes in particular. He returned to University College Dublin in 1970, when he was appointed to the Chair in Civil Engineering, remaining until his retirement in 1984. Jim Dooge has always had an interest in politics and this he was able to pursue in parallel with his academic career. He was first elected to the Irish Senate in 1961. He retired from public life in 1987 - but not before having been Chairman of the Irish Senate and at various times leader of the opposition or Leader of the House. In 1981 he had been appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs by the then Taoiseach, Garrett Fitzgerald. He examined a PhD candidate for the University of Birmingham whilst chairing a meeting at the Royal Society of London whilst Foreign Minister; a rather unique combination of skills which provide some indication of the calibre of the man. He has served as Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the World Climate Impact Studies Programme 1980 - 90; as a member of the International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction advisory board on behalf of the Secretary General of the UN; been President of the International Commission on Water Resources (1971 - 75); President of the International Association for Hydrological Sciences (1975 - 79) and President of the International Council of Scientific Unions (1980 - 86). He was President of the Royal Irish Academy in 1987 - 90 and elected as a foreign member of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2000. Jim Dooge has continued his interest and involvement in hydrology and still publishes in leading journals. His irrepressible enthusiasm is extremely contagious and he has been directly responsible for 'converting' many young engineers into adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to engineering hydrology. Wikipedia .