Early life and education

McCaffer was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He received a BSc in Civil Engineering from Strathclyde University in 1965. He was awarded PhD in 1977 from Loughborough University and DSc in 1998 from University of Strathclyde.

Academics career

At Loughborough University, McCaffer has been head of civil engineering (1987–1993), dean of engineering (1992–1997), deputy vice-chancellor (1997–2002), director of strategic business partnerships, innovation and knowledge transfer (2002–2006), and emeritus professor (since 2009).

Other appointments have included duties at the University of Technology, Malaysia, University of Hong Kong, University of New South Wales and visiting professor at Glasgow Caledonian University.

Honours

McCaffer is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (1991), Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2009), Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building.

He is a member of the board of trustees of the British University in Egypt, and previously a member of Innovation East Midlands, a member of the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board and member of Court at Cranfield University.