Professor John Langford

In November 2003, John Langford was appointed a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and Director of the newly created Melbourne Water Research Centre expanded in 2007 to become Uniwater, a joint initiative of Monash University and the University of Melbourne. From 1994 to 2003, Professor Langford was inaugural Executive Director of the Water Services Association of Australia, the peak body of the Australian urban water industry. He was Managing Director of the Rural Water Corporation, Victoria’s state wide irrigation and rural water authority, from 1989 to 1994.
John’s career in the water industry spans three decades of commitment and enthusiasm. Its impetus springs from a deep affection for the natural environment and a desire to achieve its sustainable use. He chose water as a field in which it was possible to make a strategic contribution. He has extensive experience in water resource and catchment management, urban and irrigation water supply and in managing research.
As Executive Director of the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA), Professor Langford built WSAA from its conception into a highly effective industry association with twenty eight members servicing 14.5 million people in Australia and New Zealand. WSAA has a highly credible voice both within Australia, and internationally. WSAA has had significant influence on public health research and reform of the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. WSAA’s role in facilitating benchmarking of the performance of Australia’s urban water utilities from publication of WSAAfacts, to detailed process benchmarking, and strategic asset management has been important in meeting the goals of the COAG Water Reform Agenda.
Professor Langford has worked for Melbourne Water, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Department of Water Resources of Victoria and the Rural Water Corporation. He has served on the Boards of Goulburn Murray Water, the Murray- Darling Basin Commission, the Land Conservation Council, the Australian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage, the Water Research Foundation, the Environment Council. He chaired the Boards of the CRC for Catchment Hydrology and the CRC for Freshwater Ecology from inception to completion. Currently he is chairman of the Board of the Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre
Professor Langford is a Churchill Fellow, a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Australia. In October 1999, Professor Langford was awarded the Peter Hughes Water Award by the Australian Water Association in recognition of his world class contribution to water affairs. He was the Munro Orator for 2000, and in 2003 he was awarded a Centenary Medal by the Australian Government for his contribution to environmental science and technology. Professor Langford was awarded an Order of Australia in the 2005 Queen‘s Birthday Honours.