Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Glendo, Wyoming
M.S. Civil Engineering,
A native of Glendo, Wyoming, Calvin Vaudrey served in the U.S. Army Air Corp during World War II. After his discharge in 1946, Calvin entered the College of Engineering at the University of Wyoming earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at 1948.
Calvin moved to Brookings in 1948 where he was an instructor in civil engineering teaching mechanics, hydraulics, structures and surveying at South Dakota State College. In addition, he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1950 and a professional degree in water supply in 1954 both from the University of Wyoming. He continued to teach both graduate and undergraduate engineering courses at SDSC until 1957.
Calvin founded the J.T. Banner and Associates Consulting Engineers office in Brookings in 1953. He served as General Manager of the South Dakota office and engineer in charge of projects in South Dakota. Calvin became president of J.T. Banner and Associates, Inc. in 1969 and served in that capacity until he retired as chairman of the board in 1989. During the period of Vaudrey’s guidance, Banner Associates, Inc. grew to an organization of more than 120 employees in offices located in South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado. Calvin’s wife, Denice, was integral in the establishment of the Banner Office and served as secretary, bookkeeper and office manager until retiring from Banner Associates in 1984.
Banner Associates specialties included sanitary, hydraulic and structural engineering, including report and specification writing. Calvin was a registered professional engineer and land surveyor in South Dakota and Arizona and a registered professional engineer in Minnesota, Wyoming and Colorado. He was inducted into the South Dakota Department of Transportation Hall of Honor as a consulting engineering in 1994 and inducted into the College of Engineering Hall of Fame at the University of Wyoming in 2006.