Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Brookings
Civil Engineering,
John M. Hanson received an M.S. from Iowa State University in 1957 and a Ph.D. from Lehigh University in 1964 following his graduation from South Dakota State College. He worked briefly for Boeing Airplane Co. and then was employed in the bridge section of Sverdrup and Parcel, Inc., in St. Louis, Missouri. He later worked as a Structural Engineer for J.T. Banner and Associated in Laramie, WY, and Phillips-Carter-Osborn, Inc., in Denver. While working on his Ph.D. at Lehigh University, he specialized in research on the shear strength of pre-stressed concrete beams. He stayed at Lehigh as an assistant professor until he joined Portland Cement Association in 1965. He served as the vice president of Operations of Wiss, Janney, Elstner and Associates, Inc., in Mt. Prospect, Illinois, for several years. Hanson was a co-recipient of the 1974 ASCE State-of-the-Art of Civil Engineering Award and of the 1976 Raymond C. Reese Award. He also received the Distinguished Service Award of the American Concrete Institute in 1976 and the Martin P. Korn Award of the Pre-stressed Concrete Institute in 1978.