Richard E McConnelMCCONNELDr. Richard Ernest McConnel (Dick McConnel) has died at the age of 78 in Bottisham England on 13 June 2026. Richard was born 27 September 1947 in Wellington, New Zealand to parents Major Bertie Augustus McConnel and Edith Emma Hall McConnel. He was head prefect and dux at Heretaunga College in 1965 and was selected a Rhodes Scholar at Canterbury University in New Zealand in 1970. He attended Oxford University and was a member of Merton College. He achieved a Doctorate in Philosophy and studied structural engineering. Richard went on to work on the Melbourne Bridge Project following the Royal commissioned investigation into its collapse. He later moved to Wurzburg Germany to work for a large construction and civil engineering firm where he specialized in bridge construction and integrity. Richard accepted a lectureship at the University of Cambridge in 1979. He was a respected expert in structural steelwork, space grids, and lattice domes, having authored academic publications and reference books such as "Space Grid Structures". Throughout his tenure, he served as a University Lecturer in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge and was a long-time Fellow, Tutor, and Director of Studies at St John's College Cambridge. He is celebrated as the driving force behind the establishment of the Cambridge University Rugby League Football Club, and among the College's historic and competitive crews of the Lady Margaret Boat Club's "Fellows Boat". He was an avid supporter, and served as the Senior Treasurer, for University of Cambridge Sport Syndicate. During the last 20+ years of his life Richard was part of the village of Great Wilbraham Cambridgeshire, lived part-time in the US with his partner, enjoyed sailing in the UK and Europe, and visited New Zealand often.
He is survived by his sons James McConnel and Charles Scanlan; preceded by their mother Susan Clare McConnel; survived by daughters Hester McConnel and Helena McConnel and their mother Gail Baglow; his grandchildren Henry McConnel and Margaret McConnel; his daughter-in-laws Rosalind Haslett and Felicity McConnel; his sister Frances Forsyth and his brothers Owen McConnel and Stephen McConnel; and his partner Teri Willey.
He loved his children and grandchildren very much and will be remembered and missed by many friends and family members.
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