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News Release from: Chartered Institute of Building [CIOB]
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 December 2003
Obituary: Professor John Andrews
Professor John Andrews TD, Hon DTech, DMS, FCGI, FCIOB, FCMI died in Chichester on 9 November 2003, just three months short of his 80th birthday.
Reflecting on the impact Professor John Andrews made within the construction industry, Professor John Bale - CIOB Past President said "For those of us who kept in touch with him by telephone, however, his incisive intellect and cheery manner completely belied his age and state of health "John Andrews was a true pioneer of construction management education
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 12 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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His work had a profound and seminal influence in many areas of the construction industry and academia, and in many different parts of the world.
However, his influence upon generations of students transcended the merely academic; to them he was the kindest of friends, providing criticism that was always supportive, and following their careers with unfailing interest.
"John spent 25 years in the construction industry, in the UK and overseas, before becoming a full-time lecturer at University College London in 1969.
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For the latter part of that industrial career, he had been on secondment to the (then) Ministry of Public Building and Works and the newly-formed CITB, giving lectures throughout the UK which stimulated a great deal of new thinking about the management of construction.
An invitation to become the first lecturer in Construction Management at the prestigious UCL, began an association that extended until his death, allowing him to teach, tutor and supervise many hundreds of undergraduate and postgraduate students who were to apply his insights in their teaching, research and industrial practice.
In parallel with his academic career, John's concern for the personal welfare of students found expression in a six-year stint as Senior Warden of UCL student residences.
"John Andrews was truly a citizen of the world and, from his base in UCL, he directed a multitude of international projects - for example in Indonesia, Egypt, Malaysia, and in Vietnam, where his role as a government advisor and visiting professor at Hanoi Architectural University continued until the end of his life.
This work sowed the seeds of new thinking in the countries he visited and helped to generate a whole new corpus of knowledge on the development of construction industries in an international context, leading to the formation under his leadership of the Construction industry Development Unit at UCL, and the continuing work of his students from and in virtually every part of the globe.
"Throughout his career, John was the staunchest champion of CIOB, and he never lost touch with the UK construction industry.
In the 1960's he was co-ordinating writer of the first edition of the Building Management Notebook and Chief Examiner for the Final Part II examinations, and he was twice Chairman of the Institute's Eastern Region.
He had taught Ian Dixon (later Sir Ian) on the (then) IOB course at South-West Essex Technical College, and he later served for many years as an advisor to Willmott Dixon Limited.
"He was a lifelong advocate of joint education for the built environment professions and, in 1993, he wrote the Construction Industry Council report "Crossing Boundaries", jointly with Sir Andrew Derbyshire.
"This brief obituary cannot possibly do justice to the life and work of a man who gave so much to the industry, the CIOB, and to his students and friends.
Much more could be said, for example, of his regular articles in "Building" magazine (especially in the 60's), of his work for the World Bank and the International Labour Organisation, and of the external examining in UK universities which extended well into his seventies, and made him new friends among people who had known nothing of his early work.
He received many honours, including the Territorial Decoration (TD) for his work as an army officer, a Churchill Fellowship which took him to Japan (where he was later made an honorary citizen of the City of Osaka), Fellowship of the City and Guilds of London Institute, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Luton.
But John's greatest pride was in the achievements of his students, the success of his children, and the stalwart support of Bee (his wife of 54 years) who travelled the world with him, caring for John and his 'extended family' of devoted ex-students.
He will be remembered with true affection throughout that family, and by his many friends".
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