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Geotechnical News • December 2017
the many dams and water resource
development projects constructed by
PFRA in western Canada at that time.
Among other projects, he made a sig-
nificant contribution to geological and
engineering studies to locate Gardiner
Dam, which was completed in 1966.
From 1953 to 1956, Jack served as
an advisor to the Shaw Royal Com-
mission on Newfoundland agriculture
and as a technical advisor on aerial
resource mapping to the governments
of Ceylon and Pakistan.
Jack started his consulting firm, J.D.
Mollard and Associates Limited, in
1956. Located in Regina throughout
its history, the firm undertook more
than 5,000 consulting assignments in
applied airphoto and satellite image
remote sensing under Jack’s leader-
ship. Those projects covered a wide
range of applications -- exploring for
aggregates, hydrocarbons and miner-
als, conducting geoenvironmental
studies, mapping natural hazards,
selecting route and site locations, and
conducting groundwater studies -- in a
wide range of terrain. Jack completed
studies on all continents and even
Mars.
Jack generously shared his knowl-
edge and experience in over 100 short
courses and workshops across Canada
and in the USA, and published over
125 technical and scientific papers.
Early in his career he was invited by
Dr. Karl Terzhagi to lecture at Har-
vard. He holds the record for longevity
at the University of Alberta extension
department, having lectured there for
over 40 years. Jack’s also recognized
the important role that universities
play in preparing future engineers and
geoscientists and gave generously to
the universities of Saskatchewan and
Regina. This vision was exemplified
when, at 89 years of age, he joined a
group of engineering students for the
inaugural “Sensing the Earth” field
tour which he helped found at the
University of Saskatchewan.
Jack’s work has been widely recog-
nized over the years. In 2002 he was
named an Officer of the Order of
Canada and he received the Lieuten-
ant-Governor of Saskatchewan’s Meri-
torious Achievement Award. In 2010
he received the Saskatchewan Order of
Merit. He has also received the Julian
Smith Medal from the Engineering
Institute of Canada (EIC) for achieve-
ments in the development of Canada,
the Sir John Kennedy Medal, the high-
est honour of the EIC, the Allied Arts
Medal from the Royal Architectural
Institute of Canada, the Massey Medal
from the Royal Canadian Geographi-
cal Society, an honorary Doctor of
Laws from the University of Regina
plus many other major awards.
These achievements not withstanding,
Jack was perhaps best known for his
passionate interest in interpreting the
Earth’s physical geography, geoenvi-
ronment and natural resources from
airphotos and satellite images, and for
his warm personality and infectious
enthusiasm. He will be dearly missed
by family, friends and colleagues.
Oldrich Hungr
(1947 - 2017)
Footnote from Oldrich’s family:
Since Oldrich’s passing, we have been
flooded with personal and sincere
messages of condolence from all over
the world. We are moved by this over-
whelming response that clearly shows
how Oldrich touched so many people,
not just professionally but personally.
We would like to thank the geotechni-
cal community for the home they cre-
ated for Oldrich. His passion for his
work infused itself into our family life
in so many wonderful ways. He taught
each of his children to pursue life with
the same level of integrity and fervour.
To extend Oldrich’s efforts, we have
opened for contributions a scholarship
fund through the University of British
Columbia to help students in the same
line of research. For more informa-
tion, please see
See September 2017 issue of
Geotechnical News (page 43) for
In Memoriam for Oldrich
IN MEMORIAM
