WOLF

UNITED KINGDOM (see also List of Individuals)

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9.5.1918 Wien/A - 5.10.2007 London/UK

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Peter Otto Wolf was born in Austria and he moved in 1935 to the UK, where he was educated at King's College, University of London, as a civil engineer. After war activity he was sent to King's Lynn to propose a design for a flood mitigation scheme. In 1946, Wolf joined James Williamson consultants and was engaged for the Loch Sloy hydropower plant in Scotland. From 1947 to 1949 Wolf then was the engineer of the concrete Mullardoch Dam with John Cochrane & Son, Ltd. From 1949 Wolf lectured in hydraulics at Imperial College, London, where he met colleagues such as Charles Jaeger (1901-1989) and Serge Leliavsky (1891-1963). He was there from 1957 to 1966 a Reader in hydrology until being appointed professor of civil engineering, a position he held until retirement in 1984.

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During his career, Wolf coordinated the British hydraulics research and he was a strong personality in bringing people together for the profit of the engineering community. He for instance organized the 1956 side weir symposium held at Imperial College, where this complicated element of wastewater hydraulics was analyzed by the papers of Peter Ackers (1924-) on A theoretical consideration of the side weir as a storm water overflow or of William Frazer (1917-1968) on The behavior of side weirs in prismatic rectangular channels. The discussion of almost thirty pages brought together the then experts in this field of environmental hydraulics and the outcome was a definite support of the side weir as an effective and economic hydraulic structure, provided some basic limitations are accounted for. Wolf later was also instrumental in the organization of a Symposium on siphons, another structure known for a long time in engineering but whose performance was not yet optimized. Again, Wolf was able to gather the then leading British experts with a definite support for the improved siphon.

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_{Allard, W., Glasspoole, J., Wolf, P.O. (1960). Floods in the British Isles. Proc. Institution of Civil Engineers 15: 119-144.}

_{Anonymous (1974). Prof. Peter Wolf. New Civil Engineer 3(Dec. 19/26): 29. P}

_{Wolf, P.O. (1971). Research in the department of civil engineering at the City University. Journal Institution Municipal Engineers 98(10): 283-286.}

_{Wolf, P.O., ed. (1975). Opening address. Proc. Symp. Design and operation of siphons and siphon spillways London: iv-v. P}

_{Wolf, P.O. (2005). Reminiscences: Some great contributors to the early development of IAHR. IAHR 70 years: 47-50, W.H. Hager, ed. IAHR: Madrid. P}