Biography

Tamon Ishibashi

Distinguished Pioneer

Professional background

Tamon Ishibashi (1917-1990) made a major contribution at a time of rapid progress in the settlement of Japan’s social infrastructure. He was a researcher of sanitary, waterworks and environmental engineering, as well as an administrator of waterworks and sewage systems for national and local governments. He graduated in Civil Engineering, University of Tokyo in 1940, and was employed by the Waterworks Bureau of Fukui City in 1946. He then moved to the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 1950, where he served as head of the Waterworks Division.  In 1957, he spent six months as a researcher at WHO in the USA. He also studied water pollution administration in European countries, and after returning to Japan, he helped to develop legislation to prevent water pollution in Japan. He was appointed Professor in the Department of Urban Engineering, University of Tokyo in 1964, and retired in 1977.

After his Presidency in IWSA (1978-80, see below for more), Professor Ishibashi formed the Japanese Branch of the International Ozone Association (IOA) in 1983 and successfully organized the 7th International Congress of the IOA in Tokyo in 1985, where became President of IOA.  For his decades of service to Japan in the water field, he was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure, 2nd class, from the Japanese Government, in 1988.

Major Contributions to IWA

Professor Ishibashi organized the 1978 IWSA World Water Congress in Kyoto, Japan, the first one in Asia, and then served as President of IWSA from 1978-80.  In 1977, the year previous to the Kyoto WWC, Professor Ishibashi conceived and organized the first Regional Conference on Water Supply in Western Pacific, held in Bangkok, Thailand.  This conference later developed into the Asian Pacific Regional Water Supply Conference series (ASPAC).

Author: Shinichiro Ohgaki, Japan