William J. Hall

Professor Emeritus

3103 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory

205 N. Mathews Ave. Urbana, IL 61801

w-hall3@illinois.edu
Phone: 
(217) 333-3927
Fax: 
(217) 333-9464

 

William J. Hall, born on April 12, 1926, was raised in California, and attended the University of California-Berkeley from 1943-44. During WWII, he was a midshipman in the Merchant Marine Cadet Corps, with service largely in the Pacific war theater during 1944-45, with a short stint at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. In 1948, Hall received a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the University of Kansas, and from 1948-49 worked as an engineer for the SOHIO Pipeline Co. He entered graduate study at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in September 1949 and received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1951 and 1954 respectively. In 1954 he joined the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering. He served as Head of the Department from 1984-91 and retired in 1993. In 1998 he was called back by the University for one year to be the Interim Head of the Office of Research and Technology Management of the Graduate College, dealing largely with patents and copyrights.
 
He is the author or co-author of more than 225 books, journal papers, and major reports of national importance, copies of which reside in a special collection in Grainger Engineering Library and Information Center.
 
Professor Hall has had professional involvement with many large engineering projects, including being part of the design team for the Trans-Alaska petroleum pipeline, many nuclear power plants, and major projects of agencies of the U.S. government, for example, Department of Defense protective structures, missile systems, and nuclear materials. He has been an active participant in numerous National Research Council studies. His many honors include achieving Distinguished Membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers, being named a National Honor Member of Chi Epsilon, receiving the Housner Medal of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, and being elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering.
 
 
Research Overview: 

Professor Hall was engaged in instruction and research, with a specialty in structural engineering and structural dynamics. His research emphasis was on steel structures, materials, blast, shock and earthquake engineering.