George F. Sowers was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Civil Engineer

Civil engineer

A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...

 and Regents Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

. He also worked as a consultant

Consultant

A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...

 for Law Engineering while maintaining his position as a professor.

Early life and education

George Sowers was born in Cleveland, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

 to George Sowers and Marie Tyler Sowers. He received his B.S.

Bachelor of Science

A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in Civil Engineering from Case Institute of Technology in 1942. After graduating he worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority

Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...

, as a Hydraulic engineer. While at the Tennessee Valley Authority he met his future wife Frances Adair Lott, whom he married in 1944. He served in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. After the war he attended Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 where he received his M.S.

Master of Science

A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

 in Civil Engineering in 1947.

Career

Sowers was a member of the faculty of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech from 1947 until his death in 1996. He advanced in his position beginning as an Assistant Professor until 1950, then Associate Professors until 1954, then Professor until 1965, and finally Regents Professor in 1965. From 1987 to 1996 he held the title of Regents Professor Emeritus. While a professor he also was an active consultant for Law Engineering. Even though this arrangement is unusual it continued until his death.

Publications

• Websters New World Dictionary (Contribution on Engineering Terms) World Publishing Company, Cleveland, 1951.
• Earth and Rockfill Dam Engineering, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, India, 196l.
• Introductory Soil Mechanics and Foundations: Geotechnical Engineering, 4th Edition, Copyright 1979, Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York, Collier Macmillan Publishers, London.
• Introductory Soil Mechanics and Foundations (with G. B. Sowers, Macmillan Co., New York, 1951, 3rd edition, 1970). Also International Edition, Macmillan Collier, Hong Kong, 1970, Spanish, Lumisa-Wiley, Mexico, 1972.
• Foundation Engineering (with Leonards et al.), McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1961.
• Soil Mechanics in Highway Engineering (with A. Rico et al.) Trans Tech Publishers, Frankfort, 1988 (A translation of an earlier Spanish Language Text; Limusa-Wiley, Mexico).

He was also the author or co-author of more than 130 publications on geotechnical engineering

Geotechnical engineering

Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering is important in civil engineering, but is also used by military, mining, petroleum, or any other engineering concerned with construction on or in the ground...

, engineering geology, and seismology.