5 minute read
TRIBUTE TO DENNIS JOHN LENARD LFAIQS
5 JANUARY 1949 TO 11 FEBRUARY 2023 (AGE 74)
By Anthony Mills FAIQS, CQS
Dennis Lenard's passing on the 11th of February 2023 is a huge loss to the quantity surveying industry. Dennis joined the AIQS NSW Chapter in 1973 and worked his way up to become president of the institute in 1995. Many people were familiar with Dennis as an industry innovator and thought leader.
Dennis and I met in 2001 while travelling to the United States in preparation for the ICEC/PAQS World Congress in Melbourne. He asked if I wanted to tour the University of Pittsburgh campus the night before to talk about what might be required to manage the conference papers. We discussed the need for high-quality papers on quantity surveying topics in academia and practice, and Dennis offered to assist me. Dennis was a mentor to me and many others, and his advice and support were greatly appreciated.
Dennis was the first Australian president of the International Cost Engineering Council (ICEC) and the first president of the Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS), making him the only person in the world to hold both positions. He was a strong supporter of international organisations and the relationships they foster. He was particularly convinced that the AIQS had a duty to assist other quantity surveying associations in developing educational and competency standards. He was a visionary who wanted to promote the value of quantity surveying at all levels, from local to global.
Dennis graduated with a Bachelor of Applied Science (with Honours) degree from the University of Technology, Sydney. He later earned a Master’s degree from UTS and a PhD in construction innovation from the University of Newcastle; a theme that grew into a lifelong passion and later found expression in many of the roles he took on throughout his career.
Dennis began his career in the 1970s with a variety of construction firms that worked in both the building and civil industries. He founded a highly successful housing company before launching his own private development firm. He was well-versed in the construction industry, having faced many of its challenges firsthand.
In the late 1980s, he changed careers and became a senior academic, taking a role at the University of Technology, Sydney as Professor and Head of School. He immediately began looking for ways to broaden its horizons. He spent two years in Shanghai and one year in Hong Kong, making valuable contacts and expanding his understanding of how to improve and reform the global construction industry. During this time, he also became a Director of the Construction Industry Institute of Australia, a group that brought together industry and universities to solve difficult and entrenched problems.
Dennis was appointed Director of the Centre for Construction Innovation in Manchester, United Kingdom, in 2000, while also serving as a Professor of International Construction at Salford University in the United Kingdom. At that point, he began to understand the issues confronting the construction industry in the United Kingdom, which has one of the world's most sophisticated construction markets.
Dennis returned to Australia in 2002 as the Director of the Business and Industry Development Research Program at the Australian National Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation - a government-sponsored research centre tasked with studying industry dynamics and developing guidelines to improve industry practices.
Dennis was approached in 2003 to become the Chief Executive of Constructing Excellence in the United Kingdom. The position was regarded as the most senior government position in the UK construction industry, and after accepting the appointment, it was ratified and formally announced by the UK construction minister. Dennis's role was to work strategically to accelerate change and build sustainable businesses across the entire supply chain and the UK construction sector.
When Dennis was interviewed for the influential, "Building" magazine, the reporter began, "Trust an antipodean to want to turn everything upside down. But the new CEO of Constructing Excellence believes that's what we need to do to improve the industry's image - and he's starting with a fundamental review of his own company.” His opinions were frequently challenged and often politically charged, but he handled the role with the professionalism and integrity that he was known for.
Dennis returned to Australia in 2007 and took on many advisory and consultancy roles. He led many government reform initiatives at both state and federal levels. This included major players like the Strategic Industry Leaders Group and the Design Value Working Group.
Dennis was, "someone who could talk to the contractors but also be convincing in a more academic role," according to Peter Rogers, chairman of Constructing Excellence, UK. He was a quantity surveyor with a broad worldview who understood the stresses of the construction industry. He was generous with his time and cared for many people along the way. Dennis received numerous awards from various organisations, including ICEC and PAQS, and was named a Life Fellow of AIQS in 2003.
Dennis is survived by his wife, Frances, and two children, a son, John, and daughter, Andrea. He was a lifelong sports fan and avid golfer. "My rugby teammates used to call me ‘twinkle toes,’ because I had a real burst of speed for a prop forward," he said in a 2003 article in Building magazine. Dennis was a successful quantity surveyor who valued and nurtured many people he met during his productive career.
Vale Dennis Lenard LFAIQS
