William J. Hall
William J. Hall began his education at the University of California-Berkeley in 1943. He served in the US Navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After returning from the war, he finished his undergraduate education, earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University of Kansas in 1948. He briefly worked for the SOHIO pipeline company before pursuing graduate studies at the University of Illinois, earning his M.S. and Ph.D. in 1951 and 1954, respectively. He joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as a faculty member in 1954. He served as the department head from 1984 to 1991. In addition to his work in instruction and research, Professor Hall worked professionally on a variety of projects. These projects include the Trans-Alaska pipeline, several nuclear power plants, and major projects for the Department of Defense. Professor Hall was a pioneer in the research fields of steel structures and earthquake engineering, which is one of the many reasons that he was named a National Honor Member of Chi Epsilon.