Lymon C. Reese

Lymon C. Reese Lymon Clifton Reese was born in Stanley, Pike County, Arkansas, on April 27, 1917, to Samuel Wesley Reese and Nancy Elizabeth (Betty) Daniel Reese. He was the third child born to Samuel and Betty, other siblings were Van Augustus Reese and Thelma May (later Mrs. Joe W. Lang). Lymon passed away on September 14, 2009 at the age of 92. Lymon graduated Salutatorian of Abilene High School in 1934. He played on the golf team in high school, having been introduced to the sport while employed as a caddy at Abilene Country Club. This became the start of golf as a life-long interest. The lack of family resources prevented Lymon from entering a university after high school. He was employed in various jobs and eventually became the sole support of his mother following the death of his father. Lymon's early interest in engineering led to a civil service examination for an engineering assistant on a survey party. He accepted a position as a Rodman in June 1939. Lymon learned to use the level and the transit, bought and learned to use a slide rule, and bought books and learned to lay out circular curves. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lymon served as a party chief in the building of an ordinance plant in Birmingham, Alabama. A year later, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions, (the Sea Bee's). He was promoted to Chief Petty Officer in December 1942. At age 25, he was among the youngest Chiefs in the 66th Battalion. Lymon served in the California, Aleutian Islands, and Okinawa. He was honorably discharged in November 1945. Lymon began attending Rice University in March 1946. By June 1946 he had completed 20 semester hours and had also lettered on the golf team. He transferred to the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Texas in Austin in September 1946. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1949 and continued his M.S. in 1950. While at the University, he attended the University Baptist Church and was active in the student group. He met Eva Lee Jett and they were married on May 28, 1948. Daughter Sally Elizabeth was born on November 3, 1949. The family moved to Starkville, Mississippi, in September, 1950, where Lymon had accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering in Mississippi State College (now University). Son John Blake was born on October 26, 1950. In 1951, Lymon was awarded a fellowship to study for the Ph.D at University of California at Berkeley. He was awarded his Ph.D. in engineering in 1954. After two additional years of teaching at Mississippi State, and the birth of another daughter, Nancy Gay, on October 18, 1954, Lymon accepted a position in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Texas for the Fall Semester of 1955. At the University of Texas, Dr. Reese was promoted to Associate Professor and then to Full Professor. He served as Chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering from 1965 until 1972 and as Associate Dean for Research for the College of Engineering from 1972 until 1979. He held the Nasser Al-Rashid Chair Emeritus in Civil Engineering and was named a Distinguished Graduate of the College. During his 33-year career at The University of Texas, Dr. Reese supervised 71 graduate students who received the M.S. or PhD in Civil Engineering. Twelve of the students became professors at universities worldwide and at least eight established businesses that have hundreds of employees. Many of the students and their families maintained ongoing correspondence with Dr. Reese until his death. Lymon continued to enjoy a weekly game of golf until the past few months, often with his son and some of his grandsons. Most of his time since retirement from active teaching at The University of Texas has been spent at Ensoft, Inc., a developer of engineering software, where he was founder and principal. His consulting activities were carried out through Lymon C. Reese & Associates, a subsidiary of Ensoft. He continued to maintain a close relationship with the University and lectured occasionally until very recently. Lymon C. Reese authored over 400 technical papers and reports and presented over 450 invited lectures on the topics of soil mechanics and civil engineering. Over his career, Dr. Reese conducted extensive research in the field of geotechnical engineering, principally concerning the behavior of deep foundations. He pioneered performing field studies of instrumented piles and developed analytical methods now widely used in the design of major structures. He is the senior author of two books on foundation engineering. In 1975, Dr. Reese was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 1977, he was awarded the Joe J. King Professional Achievement Award by the College of Engineering, The University of Texas. Dr. Reese's awards from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) included the Terzaghi Award in 1983, Terzaghi Lecturer in 1986, and election to Honorary Member in 1884. Dr. Reese was President of the Texas Section of ASCE in 1968-69 and was Chair of Geotechnical Engineering Division in 1986-87. Other honors received by Dr. Reese include the Offshore Technology Conference Distinguished Achievement Award for Individuals in 1985 and an Honorary Doctorate from the Civil Engineering Institute of Bucharest, Romania, in 1994. Dr. Reese was preceded in death by his beloved wife Eva Lee in September, 2003. Following her death, he continued to be actively involved with his extended family and friends in the Austin area. He is survived by a daughter, Sally Elizabeth Reese Melant and husband Michael Melant of Georgetown; son, John Blake Reese and wife Judy Reese of Bastrop; and daughter, Nancy Gay Reese of Pflugerville, Texas. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. He will be missed by all who knew him. Visitation will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 17th at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home, 3125 N. Lamar, Austin, Texas. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, September 18th at Highland Park Baptist Church, 5206 Balcones Drive, Austin, Texas. Interment to follow at Austin Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Lymon and Eva Lee Reese Endowed Excellence Fund at The University of Texas at Austin. Please direct donations to UT Cockrell School of Engineering, 1 University Station C2100, Austin, Texas 78712 or online at https://utdirect.utexas.edu/nlogon/vip/ogp.WBX?menu=ENLR Obituary and guestbook online at wcfish.com