John Briscoe (water engineer)


John Briscoe was a South African-born environmental engineer who was Visiting Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health in the Department of Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health. He was known as "Mr. Water" to environmental economists. At Harvard, Briscoe also held appointments at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences as Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Engineering, and at the Harvard Kennedy School. His career focused on efforts on the developing world to successfully manage and preserve water as a precious resource. In early 2014, he received the Stockholm Water Prize - the “Nobel Prize of Water" - for "unparalleled contributions to global and local management of water - contributions covering vast thematic, geographic, and institutional environments-that have improved the lives and livelihoods of millions of people worldwide.”
He spoke English, Afrikaans, Bengali, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Chronology

Early life

John Briscoe was born in, and grew up in, South Africa. His mother Thelma ran a day-care center and orphanage in the black township of Soweto. His nation's extremes of poverty and wealth were seen in the social and ecological landscape, the lush coastal regions contrasted with the dry but economically important interior, where massive mineral mining operations were carried out. He described realizing that understanding water was fundamental to understanding the development of South African resources and the many social and economic inequalities of the continent. He continued developing these views while living in the interior of Bangladesh, where he witnessed how water projects and flood-protection and electrification could improve human lives greatly. He spent the rest of his career controlling water, whether for environmental or human purposes, and crusading.
A native of South Africa, John earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineeringat the University of Cape Town in 1969, an M.S. in environmental engineering in 1972, and a Ph.D. in environmental engineering at Harvard University in 1976. Before coming to Harvard, he worked as an engineer in the government water agencies of South Africa and Mozambique; an epidemiologist at the Cholera Research Center, now ICDDR,B in Bangladesh; a professor of water resources at the University of North Carolina; and, for 20 years, at the World Bank, where he helped oversee projects in water resources, irrigation, hydropower, and sanitation. He has consulted on water issues for nonprofits, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and businesses.
At Harvard, John launched the university-wide Harvard Water Security Initiative, which focuses on major challenges in countries around the world, including the ability to provide people with safe drinking water and food, to produce energy and sustain economic growth, and to enhance environmental quality. He taught popular undergraduate and graduate courses on water and was nominated for major teaching and mentoring awards. In addition, he led groups of students from across the university in collaborative research on water management in the Colorado, Indus, Mississippi, Murray-Darling, and Sao Francisco basins.

Education

Publications

John Briscoe has published widely in journals from many disciplines, including public health, nutrition, epidemiology, water resources, demography, anthropology, political science and economics. His publications include over 120 articles in refereed professional journals and eight books:
  • Briscoe, John, Richard G. Feachem and Mujibur M. Rahaman, Evaluating Health Impact: Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Education, IDRC Press, Ottawa, Canada, 80 pages, 1986.
  • Briscoe, John and David de Ferranti, Water for Rural Communities: Helping People Help Themselves, World Bank, Washington DC, 32 pages, 1988.
  • John Briscoe, Brazil: The New Challenge of Adult Health, World Bank, Washington DC, 133 pages, 1990.
  • The World Bank, The Water Strategy of the World Bank, Washington DC, February 2003.
  • John Briscoe and RPS Malik, India’s Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future. Oxford University Press, 2006.
  • John Briscoe and RPS Malik, Handbook on Water Resources Development and Management in India, Oxford University Press, 2007.
  • John Briscoe and Usman Qamar, Pakistan’s Water Economy: Running Dry, Oxford University Press, 2007.
  • The World Bank, Country Partnership Strategy for Brazil, 2007-2010, Washington DC, 2007.

Service

Consultancies

Awards

  • 1965: Alan Spiers Memorial Bursary
  • 1965: Max Michaelis Scholarship
  • 1965: Barney Barnato Scholarship
  • 1966-69: Electricity Supply Commission Bursary
  • 1967: University Medal in Mathematics
  • 1968: University Medals in Hydraulics, Hydrology, Transportation, Highways, Soil Mechanics and Thesis
  • 1968: City of Cape Town Gold Medal as Best Graduating Engineering Student at the University
  • 1968: South African Steel Institute Award for Best Structural Design
  • 1968: E. Oliver Ashe Scholarship for Post-Graduate Study
  • 1968: Cape Town City Scholarship for Post-Graduate Study
Harvard University:
  • 1970-74: Harvard University Fellowship
  • 1974: Clemons Herschel Prize
  • As an employee of the World Bank was prohibited from receiving awards. Since leaving the World Bank has:
  • 2009: Grande Medalha da Inconfidência, one of Brazil’s highest awards
  • Stroud Prize for Excellence in Water
  • Hauser Grant for Innovation in Learning and Teaching, Harvard University
  • 2014: Stockholm Water Prize - "Nobel Prize of Water”

Death

Briscoe died at age 66 after a -year struggle with cancer.