Arthur Andersen - Engineer of the Year 1983, SEAW President 1983, SEAW Seattle President 1982 d. June 1985

Arthur B. Andersen received the BS degree from the University of Washington in 1947.

A founding partner of Andersen-Bjornstad-Kane Jacobs, Inc. (ABKJ) in 1956, Arthur Andersen served as the firm's CEO and Chairman of the Board. The Seattle-based firm, with offices in Anchorage and Denver, achieved prominence for the design of numerous innovative structures located throughout the Pacific Northwest.

During his career, he managed projects of diversified classification and complexity including high- and low-rise commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. Noteworthy projects include the Boeing Space Simulation Laboratory Addition, which received the American Consulting Engineers Council's "Grand Conceptor" Award for engineering excellence, and the award-winning seismic upgrade of the Olympic Hotel. He also led the innovative structural design of the ARCO Prudhoe Bay Base Camp modules -- large-size moveable multi-level steel space frame living quarters and recreation and social activity units for which the firm received a national honor award for engineering excellence. ABKJ served as lead engineering firm for the West Seattle Freeway Bridge project.

His SEAW activities included chairing of the SEAW Lateral Forces Study Committee, with an active role in the formulation of building codes for the design of structures to safely resist earthquakes. He also served as President of the Consulting Engineers Council of Washington, which named him "Engineer of the Year" in 1968. He maintained membership in the American Concrete Institute, the American Institute of Steel Construction, and the Society of American Military Engineers.

In community activity, Arthur served on Seattle's original Forward Thrust Committee of 200 established in 1965, which had a vital impact on the city and regional transportation. He also served as the initial structural engineer member of the City of Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board.

The October 1982 SEAW Newsletter (5 months before it became known as the Equilibrium) included this excerpt from Arthur Andersen's Keynote Speech at the Annual Banquet Celebrating Engineers Week Anchorage, 1982:

"I believe we must re-vitalize the engineer in the ethics of his profession and his technical responsibility. We must be responsible for our acts and we must constantly practice awareness of the impact of our actions on the rest of society. It is insufficient to suggest that you only did what they wanted. We must become involved in the community. Leadership means being in the forefront directing investigation and ultimately the solution to maximum potential and highest quality. We must be perceptive and tire for the bet and have the courage to stand up and be counted.

"Herbert Hoover expressed very well the extent of the responsibility and liability of the engineer for his work when he wrote: 'The great liability of the engineer compared to men of other professions is that his works are out in the open where all can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance. He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like the doctors. He cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned...

"On the other hand, unlike the doctor, his is not a life among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not his purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the bare bones of science with life, comfort, and hope. No doubt as the years go by people forget which engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some politician puts his name on it. Or they credit it to some promoter who used other people's money... but the engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of goodness which flows from his successes with satisfactions that few professions may know. And the verdict of his fellow professionals is all the accolade he wants.'" (Source: Equilibrium November 1993)

Posted April 2012

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