Sarah Springman made Dame Commander
High honour for Sarah Springman: The ETH Rector and D-BAUG professor was given the title Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). With this award, Queen Elizabeth II honours the remarkable services of the British national to both engineering and international sports administration.
This is not the first honour that Professor Sarah Marcella Springman has received for her exceptional achievements: she was made Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1997 and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2012. Springman's new title as Dame Commander recognizes her leading and pioneering role in engineering and sports over the past 30 years.
Springman is one of the most accomplished academic geotechnical engineers and a pioneer in the study of soft soil mechanics, ground improvement and mass movement of slopes, renowned for her research, teaching and academic leadership. She is also an acclaimed international triathlete and sports administrator. Springman won the British and European triathlon Championships several times. As Vice-President of the International Triathlon Union, she played a central role in making the sport an Olympic discipline.
Springman was the first female professor of civil engineering in Switzerland, when she was appointed at ETH Zurich in 1997. At D-BAUG, she established a world-leading research group in soil mechanics using bespoke laboratory centrifuges for effective physical modelling of complex soil structures. In this sector, engineering expertise in soil mechanics can play an important role in tackling the effects of climate change.
In 2015, she was elected Rector of ETH Zurich. Springman will step down at the end of January after 25 years as an ETH professor and seven years as Rector. In February 2022, she will take up her new role as Rector of St Hilda's College at Oxford University.