Twentieth Award of the William Bowie Medal: Citation of Johannes Theodoor Thijsse

This citation was to have been written and personally read by Hilding Beij, our former General Secretary who, as a hydrologist, is personally well acquainted with Professor Johannes Theodoor Thijsse and his work. To our deep regret, illness that led to an operation has made this impossible. When, as Chairman of the Committee, I was called upon to take his place, I turned to the letters in the Committee's files which help us in making final decisions. I shall quote primarily from a letter contributed at our request, at the time of our deliberations, by Prof. J. M. Burgers, at present of the Institute for Fluid Dynamics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Maryland, a former colleague and Professor Thijsse's fellow member of the Royal Netherlands Academy. You will find the main biographical data concerning the medalist in the brochure which you received at the entrance.