Honorary degree citation - George Geoffrey Meyerhof*
By: M.M. Douglass, June 1985
Mr. Chancellor, I have the honour to present to you George Meyerhof, distinguished academic, eminent author, successful university administrator, a research professor of Civil Engineering.
After graduating from London University in 1938, he worked for several years in consulting structural engineering firms in England, subsequently obtaining the Ph.D. in engineering. Joining the staff of the British Government Building Research Station near London in 1946, he carried ut extensive research in soil mechanics and foundation problems. For his distinguished contributions in this field, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science in 1954 by the University of London.
Emigrating to Canada in 1953, Dr. Meyerhof became supervising engineer in the Montreal office of one of Canada's most renowned Foundation Engineering Companies. He is the author of numerous papers in structural and geotechnical engineering which have been published by scientific and engineering societies both nationally and internationally. He is a registered professional engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a member of many other engineering and scientific societies in Canada, the United States and England.
At present Dr. Meyerhof is a Research Professor at the Technical University of Nova Scotia where he was formerly professor of Civil Engineering, Head of the Civil Engineering Department and Dean of Engineering for many years.
Dr. Meyerhof is the recipient of the Centennial Medal of Canada and the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal. He has also been awarded the Duggan Medal and the Julian C. Smith Medal of the Engineering Institute of Canada. He has received the R.F. Legget Award of the Canadian Geotechnical Society and the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia Engineering Award. He was the first president of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, a council manber of the Engineering Institute of Canada and the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain, and a Terzaghi Lecturer of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In 1973 the Technical University of Aachen, West Germany, awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering and in 1975 he received an honorary Doctorate frcm the University of Ghent, Belgium. In 1982 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree frcm the Technical University of Nova Scotia and honorary Doctor of Science degrees frcm McMaster University and Queen's University.
The higher education community in general and the engineering education cctwnunity in particular is indebted to Dr. Meyerhof for giving engineering education a stronger profile at the national level.
Mr. Chancellor, it is a privilege to present to you, on behalf of the Senate and by the authority of the Board of Governors, George Meyerhof, that you may confer on him the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.
* deceased
