Professor Jean Venables

CBE 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 ...

, BSc (Eng), MSc, DSc,

FREng Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK a ...

, CEng, CEnv, FICE, FCGI, MCIWEM (born June 1948) is a British civil engineer who in November 2008 became the 144th 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 ...

, the first woman to be elected to the position.

Career

Venables has worked on

flood risk management Flood risk management (FRM) aims to reduce the human and socio-economic losses caused by flooding and is part of the larger field of risk management. Flood risk management analyzes the relationships between physical systems and socio-economic envir ...

projects. She was chairman of the Thames Regional Flood Defence Committee for a period of nine years. From 2003 to 2010 Venables was chair of the Thames Estuary Partnership, a British charity that provides a framework for managing the

Thames Estuary The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain. Limits An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...

. She was also chief executive of the

Association of Drainage Authorities The Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA) is a membership body for internal drainage boards and other stakeholders in water level management in the United Kingdom. ADA obtains and disseminates information on matters of importance and interes ...

(ADA), from Jan 2006 to March 2015, where she led ADA's role of representing organisations related to water level management and flood risk management, such as Internal Drainage Boards, flood defence committees, environmental agencies, local authorities and various associate members. Venables has been associated with formation of

CEEQUAL CEEQUAL is the international evidence-based sustainability assessment, rating and awards scheme for civil engineering, infrastructure, landscaping and works in public spaces. It was established following work promoted by the Institution of Civi ...

. From 2014 to 2016, Venables was chair of the Nuclear Liabilities Fund, succeeding Lady Balfour.

Awards and recognition

Venables was made a

Commander 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 ...

in the

2010 Birthday Honours The 2010 Birthday Honours for the Commonwealth realms were announced to celebrate the Queen's Birthday on 7 June 2010 in New Zealand, on 12 June 2010 in the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Sai ...

. She had earlier been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services as Chairman of the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Region Flood Defence Committee and before that 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 ...

(MBE) in the

1997 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1997 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countri ...

for services to civil engineering. The

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

, The

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

Kingston University , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

and

Abertay University , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of C ...

have each awarded her an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

. She is also 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 Academy of Engineering and a visiting professor at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

and at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

(where she studied). Previously, she was a visiting professor at

Strathclyde University 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 c ...

. In 2001, she was awarded the Garth Watson Medal for services to the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 2011, the Institution of Civil Engineers instituted the Jean Venables Medal. It is awarded to its best Technician Professional Review candidate.

Personal life

Venables is married to Roger Venables. They operate the company "Venables Consultancy". Roger Venables is ''Visiting Professor in Engineering for Sustainable Development'' at Queen's University, Belfast.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Venables Consultancy
*
Why professional institutions need to break down professional silos and focus on sustainable working
' – 'UrbanBuzz: Building Sustainable Communities' conference keynote presentation by Venables. {{DEFAULTSORT:Venables, Jean Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people Date of birth missing (living people) British civil engineers Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Alumni of Imperial College London Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers 1948 births 21st-century women engineers