Professor Emeritus John Small serves in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney. He earned a BSc (Eng) with First Class Honours from King's College London (1969–1974) and a PhD from the University of Sydney (1973–1977). His academic career commenced as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Australia (1977–1983), after which he joined the University of Sydney, attaining the status of Professor Emeritus in 2009 for sustained outstanding service. A Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia (FIEAust) and Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (MASCE), Small has directed the Centre for Geotechnical Research and contributed extensively to geotechnical education and practice.

Small's research specializes in geotechnical engineering, soil mechanics, finite element methods, numerical modeling, soil-structure interaction, tunnelling effects on support systems, piled raft foundations, consolidation of soils, and environmental geomechanics. Author of 196 publications with over 3,700 citations, his work influences foundation design for tall buildings, underground constructions in urban settings like Sydney, road pavements, and dam settlements. Key contributions include the textbook Geomechanics in Soil, Rock, and Environmental Engineering (2016), Computational Geomechanics Including Consolidation (2007), the E.H. Davis Memorial Lecture on Soil-Structure Interaction (2001), and papers such as 'Piled Raft Foundations for Tall Buildings' (2011), 'Re-assessment of foundation settlements for the Burj Khalifa, Dubai' (2013), 'Full 3D modelling for effects of tunnelling on existing support systems in the Sydney region' (2008), 'Time-settlement behaviour of piled raft foundations using infinite elements' (2008), and 'Analysis of piled raft foundations' (2001). His developments in finite layer analysis and shakedown analysis for pavements have advanced practical geotechnical solutions.

Professional Email: john.small@sydney.edu.au