George Willson’s innovative career in engineering was trailblazing. He credits a large
amount of his success to the education he received at the University of Wyoming, and
he hopes to give students the same opportunities, so he established the George B.
Willson Scholarship endowment for civil engineering students.
The George B. Willson Scholarship endowment was created to foster excellence and to provide financial support for graduate students in the Department of Civil Engineering. The scholarship is awarded to students from the Rocky Mountain area, with preference given to nontraditional students. His desire is to see others succeed and become leaders and innovators in their respective fields, and he believes that an education in the UW Civil Engineering department fosters this kind of success.
To create this endowment, George used an immediate gift of stocks and then plans to transfer a percentage of his estate through a bequest. This approach ensures that funds are available now to benefit students, but they will also be available in perpetuity, creating a lasting legacy for George and his contributions to the field of civil engineering.
George grew up on a ranch near Lusk, Wyoming. His grandfather, Gene B. Willson, established the ranch after settling in Wyoming while on his way to California shortly after the Civil War. His goal was to make his fortune in gold, but he didn’t have enough money to get to his destination. He spent all he had to get to Cheyenne. The ranch began as a sheep outfit before raising both sheep and cows, then it eventually turned to purebred Herefords.
When George attended UW, he began his education in electrical engineering before switching to civil engineering. He graduated with his bachelor’s in civil engineering in 1951, then spent 2 years in Guam during the Korean War. He was a combat engineer tasked with extending runways and taxiways for 1 mile, making them 3 miles long, so that B52s could land and take off from the airport.
When he returned home, he needed a job. He made his way back to Laramie to take the California civil service exam for new engineers for positions that were available in California. Even though it had been 5 years since he’d been in school, H. T. Person greeted him by name, and help him get his first engineering job in Laramie working for Banner and Associates.
From 1958 to 1965, he taught at UW in the General Engineering and Agricultural Engineering departments. Enrollment went from three to 65 students during George’s time at the university. According to George, six of his students went on to receive Ph.Ds. and became professors in engineering. George commented that another 50 students could have also pursued advanced degrees.
He earned his master’s in 1963. George would have gladly stayed on as a teacher, but to achieve a promotion, he needed a Ph.D. Personal demands on his time precluded his pursuit of a Ph.D. at that time, so he looked for other opportunities. His next job took him to Maryland where he began working on agricultural waste management and sewage sludge composting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
George’s groundbreaking accomplishment was his work with sewage sludge. Sewage sludge is the material left over from wastewater treatment. It can have the consistency of toothpaste when it’s dewatered, George explains, and has to be treated so it doesn’t cause environmental impacts. George and his fellow researchers developed the Beltsville Aerated-Pile Method to turn sludge into compost.
For his work on sewage sludge, he received several awards. In 1977, he was presented the USDA Superior Service Award; in 1982, he was given the Governor’s Citation from the State of Maryland for contributions to the betterment of the state; in 1992, he received the Thomas R. Camp Medal; and the American Society of Agricultural Engineers gave him and his co-authors a Blue Ribbon in the 1993 Education Aids Competition for their “On-Farm Composting Handbook.”
In addition to these awards, George traveled the world to give presentations on his innovation. He went to Japan, South Africa, and Cyprus and made several appearances in Washington, D.C. He’s been in 49 out of the 50 states and on every major continent with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.
After retiring from the USDA, he went into personal consulting. The main focus of this job was instructing clients how to install sewage sludge composting projects. He also wrote composting regulations for four states: Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. In addition, he occasionally worked as an expert witness.
During his time as a personal consultant, George was asked by the Seminole tribe to write a position paper that explained how mercury was causing the degradation of the Florida Everglades. Through his research, he could not find enough evidence that this was the case, but he did discover that phosphorous was leaching into the groundwater from the irrigation of sugar cane fields, winter vegetable fields, and cattle feed lots and poisoning the native grasses.
He wrote the paper, which proposed a way to address the problem, then turned it into the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Several years later, Congress told the Corps of Engineers to stop draining the swamp, ordered them to restore it, and appropriated funds for the job. A few years later, Florida set aside more money to continue the project.
George authored or contributed to approximately 80 papers, over half of which he was the lead author. He also wrote a manual for Caribbean counties considering taking New York City’s garbage. He has had an array of experiences in the workforce, and he credits it all to the education he received from the University of Wyoming.
George is a great example of a UW alum taking their education to new heights and making a difference in the world. His support and dedication to students ensures that others will have the same opportunity for success.
Photo:
UW engineering student works with blueprints.
