R. Kerry Rowe

Publications  |  Professional Activity  |  Awards  |  Graduate Students  |  Projects



Kerry Rowe

R. Kerry Rowe , Ph.D., D.Eng.,FREng, FRSC, FCAE, FEIC, P.Eng.
Professor and Canada Research Chair - Tier I

Department of Civil Engineering
Ellis Hall
Queen's University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6 Canada

Office: Ellis 229A
Telephone: 1 (613) 533-6933
Fax: 1 (613) 533-2128
Email:kerry@civil.queensu.ca


Professional Activity | Memberships | Board of Directors

Educated at The University of Sydney, Australia, Dr. Rowe worked as a geotechnical engineer with the Australian Government Department of Construction prior to emigrating to Canada in 1978.  He spent 22 years as a professor, including 8 years as Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at The University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.  He is presently a Professor of Civil Engineering and the Vice-Principal (Research) at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada. His research and consulting has been in the fields of Geotechnical, Geosynthetic, Hydrogeologic, Landfill and Geoenvironmental Engineering.  He is the lead author of the book "Barrier Systems for Waste Disposal Facilities", and editor of the Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering Handbook for Kluwer Academic Publishers, and has more than 400 publications in refereed journals, conferences and books dealing with:

  • contaminant migration through soil and rock
  • landfill design
  • containment of contaminated sites
  • geosynthetics (including geotextiles, geomembranes, geogrids, geonets etc.)
  • reinforced embankments and walls
  • tunnels in soft ground
  • failure of slopes and excavations

Dr. Rowe has supervised a large number of graduate students, many of whom have won awards for their research. His research and teaching has been recognized by a number of awards including, most recently, the Killam Prize and Legget Medal.  He has been very active in professional activities including having been President of the International Geosythetics Society and President of the Canadian Geotechnical Society.  He is currently Editor of the Journal Geotextiles and Geomembranes, a Co-Editor of the International Journal of Geomechanics and either an Associate Editor or member of the Editorial Board for twelve other journals. He was selected to present the Giroud Lecture (2002) by the International Geosynthetics Society, the 45th Rankine Lecture (2005) by the British Geotechnical Society, and the 23rd Manuel Rocha Lecture (2006) by the Portuguese Geotechnical Society,  and has been elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada, The Canadian Academy of Engineering, Engineering Institute of Canada, Australian Institution of Engineers, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.


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Professional Activity

  • President, Canadian Geotechnical Society, 2001 & 2002
  • Chairman, Standards Council of Canada (SCC) International Subcommittee on Geotextiles and Geomembranes - 1989 to 2000
  • Vice President, North American Geosynthetics Society - 1987 to 1991
  • Editor, International Geosynthetics Society Newsletter - 1986 to 1990
  • President, International Geosynthetics Society - 1990 to 1994
  • Immediate Past President, International Geosynthetics Society, 1994-1998
  • Vice President - Technical, Canadian Geotechnical Society - 1997 & 1998
  • Founding Chair, London District Section of Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and Canadian Geotechnical Society - 1993-1996
  • Vice-Chair, Ontario Regional Council, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering - 1996-1998
  • Member, NSERC Civil Engineering Grant Selection Committee - 1996-1999
  • Chair, NSERC Civil Engineering Grant Selection Committee - 1998-1999
  • Technical Chairman, 6th International Conference on Geosynthetics, Atlanta, March 1998
  • President, Canadian Geotechnical Society, 2001 & 2002
  • Co-Chair of the Awards Committee of the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, 1999-Present
  • Technical Chairman, 6th Canadian Environmental Engineering Conference, London, June 2000

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Member

  • Canadian Geotechnical Society Committee on Geotextiles, Geogrids and Geomembranes - 1982 to Present
  • Canadian General Standards Board Committee on Geotextiles - 1982 to Present
  • SCC International Subcommittee on Geotextiles and Geomembranes - 1984 to Present
  • International Standardization Organization Working Group on Physical Properties of Geotextiles - 1986 to Present
  • International Geotextile Society Technical Committee on Publications and Education - 1984 to 1988
  • Soil Properties Committee, American Society of Civil Engineers, 1986 to 1995
  • Governing Council of the International Geotextile Society, 1988 to 1998
  • Groundwater Quality Committee, American Society of Civil Engineers, 1994 to Present

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Editorial Board Membership

  • International Journal for Geotextiles & Geomembranes
    Board member: 1990 to Present
    Editor: 1997 to Present
  • Canadian Geotechnical Journal
    Board member: 1983 to Present
    Associate Editor: 1983 to Present
  • Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers
    Board member: 1986 to 1995
  • International Journal on Computers and Geotechnics
    Board member: 1988 to Present
  • International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics
    Board member: 1987 to Present
    Associate Editor - 1997 to Present
  • Geosynthetics International
    Board member: 1994 to Present
  • Soils & Foundations: Journal of Japanese Geotechnical Society
    Board member:1997 to Present
  • Italian Geotechnical Journal
    Board member: 1997 to Present
  • Lowland Technology International,
    1999 to Present
  • Geotechnique (Institution of Civil Engineers, U.K.),
    2000 to Present
  • Geotechnical Engineering (Institution of Civil Engineers, U.K.)
    1998 to Present
  • Transport in Porous Media,
    2000 to Present
  • International Journal of Geomechanics
    Co-Editor: 2001 to Present
  • Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science
    2001 to Present
  • Waste Management
    2002 to Present

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Boards of Directors

  • Interuniversity Super Computer Advisory Board 1986 - 1989
  • Interuniversity Super Computer Advisory Board (Chair) 1989
  • Management Board OCLSC - University of Toronto 1989
  • Canadian Geotechnical Society 1997-1998
  • Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech) 2000-2002
    Member, Executive Committee 2001-2002
    Member, Audit Committee 2001-2002
    Member, Environmental Advisory Committee 2001-2002
    Member, Selection Committee for CEO 2001- 2002
  • High Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory (HPVCL)(Chair) 2000-
  • Canadian Microelectronics Corporation (CMC) 2000-
  • PARTEQ Innovations Inc (Chair) 2000-
  • Canadian Geotechnical Society 2000-2003
  • CANARIE Inc. 2003-