Thomas C. Shedd
One of the primary contributors to the early reputation of the University of Illinois Civil Engineering Department as one of the outstanding centers of structural engineering education in the United States was Professor Thomas Clark Shedd.
A native of Massachusetts born in 1890, Shedd received his B.S. in mechanical engineering with honors, from Brown University in 1913. For two years following graduation from Brown, he taught courses on material testing and hydraulics and hydraulic machine design at Brown. This was followed by several years of work in structural detailing, design and estimating with the Phoenix Bridge Co. of Phoenixville, Penn. It is interesting to note that both his father and his grandfather were civil engineers, and it appears to have been his work with the Phoenix Bridge Co. that was responsible for his conversion from ME back to CE, continuing the family tradition. During this period, he served one year as an Instructor in Civil Engineering at Lehigh University. In 1922 he joined the faculty of the University of Illinois as an Associate in Civil Engineering.
In his early years on the Illinois CEE faculty, Shedd received his CEE B.S. degree in 1925 and his CEE M.S. degree in 1933, and became a full Professor of Civil Engineering in 1934. During this period, he also maintained contact with the world of structural engineering practice by working summers as a bridge designer for the firm of Waddell & Hardesty in New York. In 1937, as a consultant to the same firm, he participated in the design of the Perisphere, a 2,000 ton 180-foot diameter steel framed sphere that served as part of the theme structure of the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
During his career at Illinois, Shedd authored two textbooks in structural engineering that were widely adopted by civil engineering departments throughout the United States and helped focus the attention of structural engineers across the nation on the program at the University of Illinois. These were ‘Theory of Simple Structures’ (1931) and ‘Structural Design in Steel’ (1934).
Shedd’s influence on the profession was evidenced by his service on both the Professional Engineering and Structural Engineering examining committees of the State of Illinois. He also served the CEE field on the national level of the ASCE as the District 8 Director from 1953 until 1956. He also served a term as president of the Central Illinois Section of ASCE, and held membership in numerous professional societies, including the American Railway Engineering Association, the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineers, the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers, and the American Concrete Institute.
Shedd died in Urbana in 1959 and was survived by his wife, Margaret Campbell Shedd; two sons and one daughter.