Geotechnical News • December 2017
37
Peter Michael Byrne
(1936 - 2017)
Peter Byrne was born in Dun Lao-
ghaire, County Dublin and gained his
first engineering degree from Univer-
sity College, Dublin. He completed
post-graduate studies at the Univer-
sity of British Columbia and was a
Professor of Civil Engineering there
from 1967 until his retirement in 2001.
He continued his association with the
University as Professor Emeritus of
Civil Engineering.
Peter was highly regarded as a geo-
technical consultant. In 2014 he was
awarded the prestigious R.F. Legget
Medal by the Canadian Geotechnical
Society. The R.F. Legget Medal is
the Society’s highest honour and is
presented to an individual for ‘outs-
tanding life-long contributions to
geotechnique’. In 2009, Peter was
presented with the Julian C. Smith
Medal by the Engineering Institute for
‘Achievement in the Development of
Canada’. The Canadian Geotechni-
cal Society noted at the time that his
achievements were demonstrated by
a wide range of projects on which he
had been consulted, including bridges,
tunnels, dams, rapid transit projects,
airports and a wide variety of other
facilities in seismically active areas in
Canada and around the world. Peter
gained further professional recognition
by winning the Geoffrey Mayerhoff
Award from the Canadian Geotechni-
cal Society.
Peter also built a reputation as a
researcher, having written many
papers in his area of expertise while
pioneering many new procedures. He
was also much in demand at national
and international conferences as a
consultant on several projects.
To the Vancouver sailing fraternity
Peter Byrne was well known as a com-
petitive sailor. His passion for sailing
led to his winning a Bronze Medal for
Canada in the Flying Dutchman class
at the 1967 Pan American Games and
being selected as a member of Cana-
da’s Olympic sailing team at the 1972
Munich Olympic Games. In 1973,
with his wife Jane as crew, he won the
Enterprise Class World Championship,
held that year in Vancouver.
Peter was a popular and respected
member of the Royal Vancouver Yacht
Club for over fifty years. Jane, Sean
and Craig, along with many friends
and family members, will forever che-
rish the memories of summer sailings
with Peter along the coast of British
Columbia.
He leaves behind his loving wife Jane,
sons Sean (Elen) and Craig (Ales-
sandra), granddaughters Rebecca and
Greta, brother Donald (Shirley), sister
Dr. Marie Arnall, special niece Miriam
(Wayne) and numerous nephews
and nieces in Canada, England and
Ireland.
John Douglas Ashton (Jack) Mollard
(1924 – 2017)
Dr. J.D. (Jack) Mollard, OC, SOM,
Ph.D., LL.D., FCAE, FEIC, FCRGS,
P.Eng., P.Geo., died peacefully in
his home surrounded by family on
September 13, 2017. Jack was well
known to the local, national and inter-
national engineering and geoscience
community, and his achievements and
contributions in the fields of engineer-
ing, geoscience, teaching, writing and
consulting are truly remarkable.
A Saskatchewan native, Jack grew up
on a farm near Xena, a short distance
west of Watrous. Jack completed high
school in Watrous before moving to
Saskatoon where he obtained a Bach-
elor of Civil Engineering from the
University of Saskatchewan in 1945.
After a brief time with the Saskatch-
ewan Highways Department in 1946,
Jack moved on to obtain a Master’s
of Science in Civil Engineering from
Purdue University in 1947 and then
a Doctor of Philosophy from Cornell
University in 1952. While at Purdue
and Cornell, Jack studied under Dr.
Donald Belcher, a pioneer in terrain
interpretation using stereoscopic aerial
photographs.
Following completion of his doctor-
ate degree, Jack joined the Prairie
Farm Rehabilitation Administration
(PFRA) in Regina. As PFRA’s chief
air surveys engineer, Jack conducted
airphoto and site investigations for
IN MEMORIAM
