Chuck Durham
American engineer
Charles W. Durham (1918 – April 5, 2008) was a civil engineer, built-environment pioneer, noted philanthropist, and civic leader in Nebraska and Iowa.
College life
Durham earned three degrees from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa (G.E. '39; C.E. '40; PD '45) before moving to Omaha, Nebraska to join his college sweetheart, the former Margre Henningson, and beginning his professional life as an engineer with Henningson Engineering Company.
While a student at Iowa State, Durham was a member of the Iowa Gamma chapter of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He was initiated as Bond 274
Durham was a student under John Vincent Atanasoff, who along with his graduate assistant Clifford Berry, invented the world's first electronic digital computer.
Professional life
Durham began work at Henningson Engineering Company for Margre Henningson's father, Henning Henry Henningson, in 1940. Within ten years the company officially changed its name to Henningson, Durham, and Richardson, Inc or HDR, Inc., under Durham's leadership. Durham grew the firm from 15 employees to 1,700 before retiring.
Durham also founded and ran the firm Durham Resources until his death in 2008
Philanthropic and Civic Achievements
Iowa State University Distinguished Alumni Award 1992
Director of the Panama Canal Co.
Director the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
President and Director of Chief Executives Organization
President and National Director of the Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers
Board Chairman of the Mid-America Council of Boy Scouts of America
Named Donations
Iowa State University
The Charles W. Durham and Marge Henningson Durham Center for Computation and Communication
Durham Great Hall, Iowa State Memorial Union
H.H. Henningson Plaza (next to Howe Hall) donated by Durham in honor of his father-in-law
Durham Visualization Laboratory
University of Nebraska Omaha
Durham Science Center
Charles W. Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction
Charles W. and Margre H. Durham Distinguished Professor of Information Science and Technology
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Durham Research Center & Durham Research Plaza
Durham Research Center II
The Durham Museum
Notes & External Links
All references retrieved on May 9, 2008 unless otherwise noted.
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This entry incorporates text from “Chuck Durham” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.