Prof. Ralph B. Peck Obituary

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              Ralph B. Peck, Professor Emeritus of Foundation Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign died of congestive heart failure on February 18, 2008, at his home in Albuquerque , New Mexico .  He was born in Winnipeg , Canada , to his American parents, Orwin K and Ethel Huyck Peck on June 23, 1912.           
         
            Ralph Peck earned a Civil Engineering Degree in 1934 and Doctor of Civil Engineering Degree in 1937, both from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy , New York .  In 1938-39 he attended the Soil Mechanics course at Harvard University and was a laboratory assistant to Arthur Casagrande.  From 1939 to 1942 Peck was an assistant subway engineer for the City of Chicago , representing Karl Terzaghi who was a consultant on the Chicago Subway Project.  He joined the University of Illinois in 1942, and was a Professor of Foundation Engineering from 1948 to 1974.  Since 1974, Professor Peck was a Professor Emeritus at the University of Illinois , and a consultant in geotechnical engineering
In 1948, together with Karl Terzaghi, Ralph Peck co-authored the most influential text book in geotechnical engineering, Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice.  In 1953 with Walt Hanson and Tom Thornburn, Ralph Peck co-authored the widely used text book Foundation Engineering.
         
           In 1942, Dr. Peck joined the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Illinois , where he remained as a teacher and mentor until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 1974.  After moving to Albuquerque , Dr. Peck continued his active consulting practice which included jobs in forty-four states in the USA and twenty-eight countries on five continents.  His more than one thousand consulting projects include:  the rapid transit systems in Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington; the Alaskan Pipeline System; the James Bay Project in Quebec;  and the Dead Sea dikes.  He authored over 250 technical publications, and served as the President of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering from 1969 to 1973.  In 1974, he was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Ford.  A few of his many honors include the Norman Medal, The Wellington Prize, and the Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award in Education from the American Society of Engineers.  His last project was the Rion-Antirion Bridge in Greece .  It received the ASCE ’s OPAL Outstanding Civil Engineering Award for 2005, and is the only project outside the United States to be so honored.
           
          Ralph Peck married Marjorie E. Truby on June 14, 1937.  He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Nancy Peck (Allen) Young, and son and daughter-in-law, James (Laurie) Peck, and grandchildren, Michael Young and Maia Peck .

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Ralph B. Peck Award
This award was established in 1999 by the Geo-Institute of the Society in honor of Ralph B. Peck, Hon.M.ASCE. Funds to support this award were donated by ASFE: Professional Firms Practicing in the Geosciences.

The award consists of a gold-plated medal, a certificate, and cash prize determined annually by, and subject to, the approval of the Executive Committee of the ASCE Board of Direction, based on the income from the award endowment.
The Ralph B. Peck Award is presented for outstanding contributions to the geotechnical engineering profession through the publication of a thoughtful, carefully researched case history or histories, or the publication of recommended practices or design methodologies based on the evaluation of case histories.


The award will be given no more often than once a year either to a single author or to two or more collaborating authors for the publication of a case history or histories, or methodologies and recommended practices based on case histories, that provide valuable insights into the geotechnical aspects of constructed facilities. The award may be given for a single paper or for two or more papers written by the same author(s). The published work must involve the evaluation of subsurface conditions pertaining to the performance of constructed works, with appropriate analysis, description of project design, and recommendations for improved future design and construction practices. The relevant paper or papers will be cited during the presentation of the award.


Emphasis will be placed on a peer-reviewed paper or papers published in an appropriate journal and/or in conference proceedings within an approximate five-year period before the award decision.


The award recipient or recipients will be invited to deliver the Peck Lecture describing he lessons learned from the relevant case history or histories at a location chosen by the Board of Governors of the Geo-Institute. The lecture will be given no later than one year after its announcement.


The award will be given without regard for Society membership or nationality.


The selection of the Award recipient will be made by the Board of Governors of the Geo-Institute of ASCE from a list of three nominees to be provided by the Award Committee of the Geo-Institute of ASCE. Final approval shall be the responsibility of the ASCE Executive Committee. Nominations will be considered from any society with members engaged in the practice of geotechnical engineering.