Frank C. Townsend, Ph.D., P.E., Class of '62
Frank Townsend was born and raised in the
Panama Canal Zone. He had never seen snow until he arrived
at Michigan Tech in the fall of 1958. At Michigan Tech, he
was active in the Army ROTC as Captain of the rifle team,
battalion adjutant, and a Distinguished Military Graduate.
He was a 4 year varsity rifle team letterman, and was named
to Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities. He earned
his baccalaureate degree in civil engineering in 1962 and
joined the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads until his military
service as a first lieutenant with the 8th Special Forces
in Panama, Peru, and Colombia. Upon his discharge, he entered
Oklahoma State University for graduate study in civil engineering
and earned his master's degree in 1967, and doctoral degree
in 1970 specializing in geotechnical engineering. He then
worked as a Research Civil Engineer at the Corps of Engineers
Waterways Experiment Station until 1979 when he joined the
Civil Engineering Faculty at the University of Florida as
a Professor of Civil Engineering. He is active in research
and teaches a variety of geotechnical engineering design courses.
Dr. Townsend has published over fifty papers
and directed over $4 million of geotechnical research on centrifugal
modeling, waste clay disposal, in situ testing, and deep foundations.
He is past president of the U.S. Universities Coalition for
Geotechnical Engineering Research (USUCGER), past chairman
of ASCE's Soil Properties Committee, and past chairman for
the International Conference of Stress Wave Applications to
Piles. He is currently Secretary for ASCE's Deep Foundations
Committee. Among his several honors and awards are: the 1988-89
Tau Beta Pi Outstanding Teacher at the University of Florida,
the 1988 ASTM C.B. Dudley Award, and the 1977 ASTM Hogentogler
Award.
Dr. Townsend's father, Wesley Hall Townsend,
received a mechanical engineering degree from Michigan Tech
in 1931. Dr. Townsend and his wife, Marvel, have two children
and reside in Gainesville, Florida.
|