You are here: Home → SEAS Directory → John Briscoe
Document Actions

John Briscoe

Professor of the Practice
  • Gordon McKay Professor of the Practice of Environmental Engineering (SEAS); Professor of the Practice of Environmental Health (School of Public Health)
  • Adjunct Faculty Member, Harvard Kennedy School of Government
  • Director, Harvard Water Initiative
  • Faculty Associate, Harvard University Center for the Environment
John Briscoe

Contact Information

Office: Pierce Hall 107-B
Email: jbriscoe [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu
Office Phone: (617) 496-0944
Office Fax: (617) 496-1457
Assistant: Julianna Braun
Office: Pierce 126
Email: jbraun [ AT ] seas [ DOT ] harvard [ DOT ] edu
Office Phone: 617-495-0627

Websites

Education

  1. B.Sc., 1969, Civil Engineering, University of Cape Town, South Africa
  2. Ph.D., 1976, Environmental Engineering, Harvard University

Research Interests

    • Energy & Environmental Systems
    • Engineering, Economic Development, and Resource Management
    • Science, Technology, & Public Policy
    • Energy, Environment, and Sustainability

Primary Teaching Area

Environmental Science & Engineering

Positions & Employment

Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

  • 2009-Current: Professor

The World Bank

  • 2005-2008: Country Director for Brazil

The World Bank

  • 1996-2005: Senior Water Advisor

The World Bank, Water and Sanitation Division

  • 1990-1996: Chief

The World Bank, Brazil Department

  • 1988-1999: Senior Economist

The World Bank, Water Supply and Urban Development Department

  • 1986-1987: Consultant

School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at, Chapel Hill

  • 1981-1987: Assistant/Associate Professor

National Directorate of Water, Mozambique

  • 1979-1981: Water Engineer

Harvard Division of Applied Sciences

  • 1978-1979: Research Fellow

OXFAM, Bangladesh

  • 1978: Advisor

Epidemiology Division, Cholera Research Laboratory, Bangaldesh

  • 1976-1977: Epidemiologist

Harvard School of Public Health and Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • 1976: Research Scientist

Harvard/India Water Resources Program, Harvard University

  • 1973-1975: Project Coordinator

Department of Water Affairs, South Africa

  • 1970: Planning Engineer

Niham Shand and Company, Consulting Engineers

  • 1969: Engineer-in-training

John Mowlem Company

  • 1968: Trainee

ESCOM (the South African Electric Company)

  • 1967: Trainee

Other Experience

  • Registered Professional Engineer (South Africa, No. 848025)

  • Founding member of the major global water partnerships. These include the World Water Council, the Global Water Partnership, and the World Commission on Dams

  • Served for six years on the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Research Council

  • Member of the International Water Association’s Council of Distinguished Water Professionals

  • Member of the UNEP Advisory Board on Water

  • Member of the Murray Darling Basin Authority Advisory Council

  • Member of the World Economic Forum (Davos) Global Agenda Council on Water

  • Provided advisory and consulting services for many institutions in the private sector, government and non-profit sectors.  Recent clients include McKinsey and Company, Exxon, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Murray Darling Basin Authority, the Australian National Water Commission, the Commission of Enquiry into the 2010 Pakistan Floods, and the National Intelligence Council of the United States.

Honors

  • Nominated by students for the Harvard University Joseph Levenson award to recognize exceptional teaching of undergraduates, 2010
  • The President’s Award from the International Water Association, 2009
  • Grande Medalha de Inconfidencia, one of Brazil’s highest civilian honors, 2009
  • Harvard University Fellowship, 1974
  • Clemons Herschel Prize (awarded annually to the outstanding graduating student in Environmental Engineering), Harvard University, 1974
  • University Medals in Hydraulics, Hydrology, Transportation, Highways, Soil Mechanics and Thesis, University of Cape Town, 1968
  • City of Cape Town Gold Medal as Best Graduating Engineering Student at the University, 1968
  • South African Steel Institute Award for Best Structural Design, 1968
  • E. Oliver Ashe Scholarship for Post-Graduate Study, 1968
  • Cape Town City Scholarship for Post-Graduate Study, 1968
  • University Medal in Mathematics, University of Cape Town, 1967
  • Electricity Supply Commission Bursary, University of Cape Town, 1966-69
  • Alan Spiers Memorial Bursary, University of Cape Town, 1965
  • Max Michaelis Scholarship, University of Cape Town, 1965
  • Barney Barnato Scholarship, University of Cape Town, 1965

Selected Publications

Books

  • The World Bank (Main author), Country Partnership Strategy for Brazil, 2007-2010, Washington DC, 2007.
  • John Briscoe and Usman Qamar, Pakistan’s Water Economy:  Running Dry, Oxford University Press, 2007.
  • John Briscoe and RPS Malik (editors), Handbook on Water Resources Development and Management in India, Oxford University Press, 2007.
  • John Briscoe and RPS Malik,  India’s Water Economy: Bracing for a Turbulent Future.  Oxford University Press, 2006.
  • The World Bank (Main author), The Water Strategy of the World Bank, Washington DC, February 2003.
  • John Briscoe, Brazil: The New Challenge of Adult Health, World Bank, Washington DC, 133 pages, 1990 (in English and Portuguese).
  • Briscoe, John and David de Ferranti, Water for Rural Communities: Helping People Help Themselves, World Bank, Washington DC, 32 pages, 1988.
  • Briscoe, John, Richard G. Feachem and Mujibur M. Rahaman,  Evaluating Health Impact: Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Education, IDRC Press, Ottawa, Canada, 80 pages, 1986.

Papers, Articles, Book Chapers

  1. Briscoe, John, “Overreach and response: The politics of the World Commission on Dams and its Aftermath,” Water Alternatives, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 399-415, 2010.
  2. Briscoe, John, “Global Insider: The India-Pakistan water dispute,” World Politics Review, June 10, 2010.  http://worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/5756/global-insider-the-india-pakistan-water-dispute.
  3. Langford, John, John Briscoe, and Michael Porter, “Creating wealth from our water,” The Australian, Sydney, Nov. 1, 2010. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/creating-wealth-from-our-water/story-fn6nj4ny-1225945844874.
  4. Briscoe, John, and Michael Porter. “Why water is everybody’s business,” Business Spectator, Sydney, Nov. 23, 2010.
  5. Briscoe, John, “Troubled waters:  Can a bridge be built over the Indus,” Economic and Political Weekly, Bombay, vol. 45,  no. 50, pp. 28-32, 2010.
  6. Briscoe, John, “Ebb and flow:  Indian-Pakistani water relations dry up,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, Nov. 24, 2010.
  7. Briscoe, John, “International financing institutions and hydropower in the developing world,” Keynote speech at Hydro 2010, Lisbon, Portugal, Sept. 2010; also in International Journal of Hydropower and Dams, Issue 6, 2010.
  8. Briscoe, John, “Water as an Economic Good:  Old and New Concepts and Implications for Analysis and Implementation,” Chapter in Treatise on Water Science, Vol. 1, Peter Wilderer (editor-in-chief), Elsevier, 2011.
  9. Briscoe, John, “Two Decades at the Center of World Water Policy, Interview by J. Delli Priscoli (editor-in-chief), Water Policy, vol. 13, pp. 147-160, 2011.
  10. Briscoe, John, “Water science and policy in a changing world: Implications of non-stationary hydrology, economics and politics,” Chapter 10 in Water for Food in a Changing World, Alberto Garrido and Helen Ingram (eds.), Routledge, to be published April 1, 2011.

Faculty CV

John Briscoe CV July 2010.pdf — PDF document, 151Kb