Samuel Thorburn, CBE,^[1] FREng,^[2] FIStructE, FICE, is a British civil engineer. He was president of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) in 1997-1998 and the 2003 recipient of their Gold Medal. He served as Chairman of the Scottish Building Standards Advisory Committee.^[3]

Thorburn was educated in Hamilton Academy, which he left at 16 to work under a training agreement with a civil engineering contractor,^[4] and studied during the evening at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow — now the University of Strathclyde.^[4]

In 1966 Thorburn founded the consultancy known latterly as Thorburn Colquhoun.^[4] The company was taken over by American Consultant URS in 1999.^[5] One of his significant projects was the design of Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow ^[6] Thorburn was Chairman of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Association of the Institution of Civil Engineers for the session 1975-76 ^[7] He was appointed to the Football Licensing Authority formed in 1990 after Lord Justice Taylor's Report on the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989.^[8] He served on the Football Licensing Authority between 1993 and 2001.^[9] He was chairman of the Working Party responsible for the fourth edition of the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds (The Green Guide 1997).^[10] He was appointed first chairman of the new Scottish Registration Board for Approved Certifiers of Design (Building Structures) formed in 2004 ^[7]

Thorburn was the first recipient of the Rear Admiral John Garth Watson Medal awarded by the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1993. He was awarded a CBE for services to Construction and Engineering in 2003.^[1] He was awarded an Hon DSc by the University of Strathclyde in 1993.^[11] He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 2003