James Arthur Banks (1897 – 1 December 1967) was a Scottish civil engineer.
Banks was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1897. He attended Woodside Higher Grade School in

. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served in the Royal Marine Engineers, from 1914 to 1918. He initially trained as a structural engineer and then joined

Babtie, Shaw and Morton Babtie, Shaw and Morton was a firm of civil engineers based in Glasgow, Scotland, and noted for its work on bridges, dams and reservoirs. History It took its name following the 1906 merger of Babtie & Bonn (a partnership founded by John Babtie ...

in 1921 to train as a civil engineer. He worked in England and the US and returned to Babtie, Shaw and Morton in 1929. His speciality was the design and construction of dams for water supply and power generation, commencing with Afton Reservoir. He became a partner of the firm in 1931 and was senior partner from 1940 to 1966. He was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1944. He was appointed an officer of the same order in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

of 1947 and a Commander of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

on 31 May 1963. From 1961 Banks was chairman of the International Commission on Large Dams and was Consulting Engineer to Queen Elizabeth II for the

Balmoral Estate Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought fr ...

and a member of the Court of the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

. He served as president of the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

from November 1965 to November 1966 and was elected a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 6 March 1967. He died on 1 December 1967.

References

1897 births 1967 deaths Scottish civil engineers Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers Businesspeople from Glasgow Officers of the Order of the British Empire Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Hydraulic engineers People associated with the University of Strathclyde 20th-century Scottish businesspeople {{Civil-engineering-stub