WAMITAB President 2015 – 2018, Vice President 1997 – 2015

Professor John Donaldson has recently retired as President of WAMITAB having served for over 21 years, first as Academic Vice President and latterly as President.

In 1997 Professor Donaldson was appointed Academic Vice President (VP) of WAMITAB; serving alongside John Fergusson (VP) and the President, Lord Gregson, and subsequently Lord Lewis “Jack”, with whom he shared significant academic interest. In 2015, Professor Donaldson was appointed President of WAMITAB.

John’s contribution to WAMITAB cannot be underestimated, it would be fair to say that without John’s consistent level-headed support and direction WAMITAB would not be in the strong position it is today.

John’s achievements as an academic in the field of chemistry and waste management have been outstanding. His firmly held belief that the industry needs an independent skills body has been reflected through many years of service and evidenced by the continuity of WAMITAB.

Commenting, Chris James, CEO at WAMITAB said: “We have been very fortunate to have John’s support and insight to help to guide WAMITAB’s development. Sadly, WAMITAB does not have the powers to confer fellowships, companionships or knighthoods and instead we simply and humbly thank John for 21 years of service and express the hope that he keeps in touch.”

Picture above shows Professor John Donaldson with the engraved quaich presented in honour of his service to WAMITAB

About Professor Donaldson

Professor John Donaldson (BSc, PhD, DSc, CSci, FRSC, CChem, Hon FCIWM, FRSA) is a Professor Emeritus of both Brunel and City universities and is currently a visiting professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College. Following lecturing appointments in chemistry at the University of Aberdeen and Chelsea College and as a reader at the University of London, John’s professorial career began in 1980 at City University. He moved to Brunel University in 1990 where he set up the centre for environmental research, which gained a worldwide reputation for postgraduate training before his research arm of the centre with Professor Sue Grimes moved to Imperial College. More than 100 researchers have obtained doctorate degrees working under his supervision, over 30 post-doctoral workers have worked in his laboratories and he has published over 250 scientific papers.