This article originally appeared in the Daily Bulletin on April 22, 2026.
Retired Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor John Shortreed passed away on April 15.
Dr. Shortreed joined the University of Waterloo in 1965 as an assistant professor in the Civil Engineering department. He was named associate professor in 1969 and full professor in 1977.
His areas of research included transportation, freeway simulation, risk analysis and assessment, the movement of hazardous goods and urban transit. He joined the University's transport research group and helped launch the UWaterloo-based Institute for Risk Research.
In addition to his academic career, Dr. Shortreed was active in municipal government, serving on the Waterloo Planning Board from 1966 to1973, including three years as chair. He also served on the Waterloo Urban Renewal Committee in 1974 and on the committee of adjustment from 1976 to 1978. In 1979, he was appointed as alderman to Waterloo’s City Council, replacing Walter McLean, who had resigned his seat after winning election as a Member of Parliament for Waterloo. Shortreed served for several terms as a city councillor.
He served as the Director of the Institute for Risk Research and as a member of the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada beginning in 1994, which studied the safety of Canada’s blood supply in the wake of the tainted blood scandal. He also served on the National Advisory Panel on Risks and Benefits of Drugs (1990-1993).
Dr. Shortreed retired from the University on July 1, 1996, and remained active as a member of the Institute for Risk Research and the Network for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management (NERAM). He was also active in the community in the area of urban development, making presentations to Kitchener and Waterloo's city councils about proposed developments and projects.
Dr. John Shortreed in his office.
A recent photo of Professor Emeritus John Shortreed.
Dr. John Shortreed in a Waterloo Chronicle photo from 1976.
