Professor Hugh Brown Sutherland

Hugh Brown Sutherland was born in January 1920. He first came to the University of Glasgow as a Lecturer in 1942 after he had completed his training in Civil Engineering in 1940, and thereafter he had worked on the design and construction of several Royal Ordnance Factories.

During his time at Glasgow, Professor Sutherland became interested in soil mechanics. In 1946, he applied and was awarded the Sir James Caird Travelling Scholarship, which enabled him to go to Harvard and work with some of the best in the field. At this time Professor Sutherland was also involved in the Panama Canal Research Project, which included examining the potential effects of a nuclear explosion in the Central American waterway.

On Sutherland's return to lecturing at the University of Glasgow, his talents and success were identified by Gilbert Cook. His career continued at Glasgow, as he became a Reader in 1957 and then was appointed one of the first Titular Professors in 1964. In 1966, Professor Sutherland took up the post of the 1st Cormack Professor of Civil Engineering, in which he remained until his retirement in 1986. Still Professor Sutherland maintained a close relationship with the University of Glasgow as he took on the role of the Director of the University Trust, and he later received an honorary doctorate for his contribution to University life in 1991. Professor Sutherland passed away in December 2011.