The Grainger College of Engineering

Walter Edmund Hanson

Walter Edmund Hanson
Walter Edmund Hanson
To Walter Edmund Hanson for his dedication and contributions to society as teacher and author, engineer in government, and as a consulting engineer in multinational practice.

President and Chairman of the Board, Hanson Engineers, Incorporated, Springfield and Peoria, Illinois; Vice President, Hanson-Rodriguez, S.A., Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

  • MS, Civil Engineering, 1947

Mr. Hanson joined the faculty of the University of Illinois as an instructor in civil engineering in 1942 where, except for three years in the United States Navy, he remained until 1951. As associate professor in 1950 and 1951, he received two awards for effective teaching. He collaborated with Professors Ralph B. Peck and Thomas H. Thornburn as author of Foundation Engineering, a textbook widely used throughout the world.

In 1951 Mr. Hanson became Engineer of Bridge and Traffic Structures for the State of Illinois. He inaugurated new techniques for the exploration and analysis of subsoil conditions for highways and bridges. Under his general direction, the first highway bridges utilizing welded steel girders and prestressed concrete beams were designed and constructed.

Since 1954, as a consulting engineer, Mr. Hanson and his partners in the United States and the Dominican Republic have achieved international prominence for their designs of foundations, dams, and special structures. Mr. Hanson's accomplishments in church, civic, and professional organizations are numerous. Presently, he is president of the Civil Engineering Alumni Association, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Current as of 1973.