Patrick Joseph A. Dowling, CBE FRS is an Irish engineer and educationalist. He was born in Sandymount, Dublin and educated at University College, Dublin, graduating in 1960 with a degree in civil engineering. He then went to work at Imperial College, London, where in 1986 he was appointed to their chair in structural engineering, which he held for the next 15 years. He was afterwards Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Surrey from October 1994 to his retirement in June 2005. In 1996 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. His application citation read: "Professor Dowling has made outstanding contributions in the field of structural engineering, with emphasis on the design of steel plated structures such as those used in bridge girder and ship hull design and on the inelastic stability and damage resistance of major structural steel components such as the legs and pontoons of offshore platforms. His research has also led to new insights into the strength of composite steel-concrete building, bridge and offshore construction. Outstandingly, much of these distinguished theoretical and experimental achievements on the fundamental engineering science of structural behaviour have been complemented by his very highly respected work as a major contributor to their effective incorporation in 1992 into the new Eurocode on the Design of Steel Structures, the complete development of which he steered over a period of ten years as Chairman of the relevant joint EEC/EFTA Committee." He has served as President of the Institution of Structural Engineers, Chairman of the Steel Construction Institute, Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Chairman of the Engineering Council, President of the Association for Science Education and as Chairman of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey in 1999 and appointed a CBE in the New Year Honours List of 2001 "for his contribution to industry/university relations". In 2006 he was awarded the James Alfred Ewing Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He has co-written 6 books on subjects in his field of offshore oil platforms, including:
"Buckling of shells in offshore structures", by J.E. Harding, Patrick Joseph Dowling and N. Agelidis, Granada, 1982
"Structural Steel Design", by Dowling, P.J., Knowles, P. and Owens, G.W., Butterworths, London, 1988
