Skempton Medal

This Medal, inaugurated in 1988, is named in honour of Professor A W Skempton of Imperial College, London, and Past-President of the ISSMFE.

The Skempton Medal is awarded by the BGA to commemorate the life and work of Professor Sir Alec Skempton of Imperial College London, who was a key figure in the development of the science and practice of soil mechanics. Notably he was the 4th Rankine Lecturer and was Past-President of the ISSMFE

Professor Sir Alec Skempton

The Skempton Medal is awarded to a BGA member who has made an outstanding contribution to the practice of geotechnical engineering over a sustained period of time. The individual will not normally have received other comparable recognition in this country. The individual’s work should be closely associated with, though not necessarily carried out in, the United Kingdom. It is expected that not more than four awards would normally be made per decade.

The award ceremony normally takes place at the BGA Annual Conference immediately following the AGM and preceding the technical discussion.

List of Skempton Medal winners

At an inaugural ceremony, a special presentation of the first Gold Medal was made to Professor Skempton himself.

Medal Nr	Medal Recipient(s)	Presentation Occasion	Citation By
14 and 15	Mr J Mackey Mr A S O'Brien	AGM 21 June 2023	Prof K G Higgins Dr R Talby & Mr S A Solera
13	Mr D J Hartwell	AGM 19 June 2018	Mr N A Smith & Dr M Preene
11 and 12	Dr M A Stroud Mr D P Nicholson	AGM 17 June 2015	Prof J B Burland Prof B Simpson
10	Dr H D St John	AGM 10 June 2009	Prof D Potts
8 and 9	Dr W G Fleming Dr R H G Parry	AGM 16 June 1999	Dr D A Greenwood Prof R J Mair
6 and 7	Dr A M Penman Mr K W Cole	AGM 18 June 1997	Dr G C Sills Dr M A Stroud
5	Dr D A Greenwood	AGM 09 Jun 1993	Dr J A Lord
3 and 4	Mr D J Croney Dr W H Ward	Joint BGS/BDS meeting 25 Mar 1991	Dr M P O’Reilly J B Boden
2	Dr M J Tomlinson
1	Professor A W Skempton

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