James Dooge

James Dooge

James Clement Dooge (30 July 1922 – 20 August 2010) was an Irish politician, engineer, climatologist, hydrologist and academic. Dooge had a profound effect on the debate on climate change, in the world of hydrology and in politics in the formation of the European Union.

Dooge lived a multifaceted existence with his roles including a period as Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Acting President of Ireland (Presidential Commission), chairman of the report which led to the Single European Act and the Treaty of Maastricht, Chairman of the Irish Senate, Professor of Engineering in University College Cork and University College Dublin, President of the International Council for Science, President of the Royal Irish Academy and Chairman of the Irish Film Board.

Dooge was a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Fellowship of Engineering. He worked as an expert consultant to a wide range of specialized United Nations agencies including UNESCO, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He also acted in an expert consultancy role to DGXII (Research) at the European Commission.

He is best known in Ireland as only the second Senator to be appointed to the cabinet. In the world of academia and hydrology he is known for his numerous publications in the field with unit hydrograph theory developed by Dooge in 1959 and is generally regarded as a pioneer in the field. His work in Europe through the Dooge Committee led to the formation of the SEA and the Treaty of Maastricht.

Upon his death in 2010, UNESCO-IHE described him as a "towering figure and pioneer in hydrology" whilst the Chancellor of the NUI, Dr. Maurice Manning, described him as "that rare phenomenon in Irish life, a public intellectual whose life was devoted, without posture, to the public service.” Professor John Sweeney who was one of the scientists as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 described him as "perhaps one of the most important, prolific and distinguished scientists of the past generation."