1951-2014
I am deeply sorry to announce that Professor Paul William Partridge has passed away unexpectedly after a short time in hospital.
I am deeply sorry to announce that Professor Paul William Partridge has passed away unexpectedly after a short time in hospital.
Paul graduated in civil engineering at the University of Southampton where he completed a PhD in 1976 working in my research group. His area of research was the solution of ocean currents in large areas such as the North Sea, using finite elements. At that time our group was closely involved with researchers at several Brazilian universities who were starting to become interested in boundary elements. I helped him apply for a post-doctoral position at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, in Porto Alegre, where he started to work on boundary elements and rose to become an Adjunct Professor.
Paul enjoyed Brazil and quickly adapted to the culture and society. Brazil offered the friendly outgoing environment that suited him, and after Porto Alegre, he moved to the University of Brasilia, where he stayed to become a permanent member of staff and eventually a Full Professor.
He came back to visit us on many occasions, including spending a year at our Wessex Institute of Technology (WIT) as Visiting Professor, but declined the possibility of staying permanently to return to his beloved Brazil.
He became Head of the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Brasilia and was one of the founders of the graduate programme in Structures and Civil Construction. Paul was advisor to many Master and PhD theses and became one of the most well-known Boundary Element researchers in the world. It was only two years ago that he retired from the University of Brasilia.
Paul collaborated with WIT not only by regularly attending the International Boundary Element Methods conference, organised by our Institute, but by having his work published in book form by WIT Press, the publishing arm of our Institute. Special reference ought to be made to his book on “The Dual Reciprocity Method” in which he extended the range of applications of the technique and set the basis for what was to become his main research theme.
He will be sorely missed by his many colleagues and friends from all over the world. We will always remember his simplicity, kindness and friendliness.
Carlos A Brebbia
