Abstract. Ralph B. Peck (1912–2008), graduate and doctor of philosophy in
civil engineering (1934 and 1937 respectively) from the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, was one of the major contributors to the development
of geotechnics in the twentieth century. Born in Winnipeg (Manitoba) as an
American national, he was influenced from childhood by the world of civil
engineering through his father, Orwin K. Peck, who was a civil engineer,
mainly as a structural engineer in the railway sector. In the absence of job offers as a structural engineer, Ralph Peck arrived at
Harvard University in 1938 to attend the soil mechanics courses taught by
Arthur Casagrande, which guided Peck's professional career towards
geotechnics. In addition to Casagrande, Peck had the opportunity to meet and
work with other very important people related to geotechnics:
Albert E. Cummings, Laurits Bjerrum, Alec W. Skempton and especially
Karl Terzaghi, with whom he established a great friendship, in addition to
providing support, professional advice and performing important work, such as
the Chicago Subway Works. Peck actively dedicated himself to consulting work, which led him to visit
44 states within the United States and 28 countries on five continents. In
addition, he also participated in research work where he was asked and was a
committed lecturer at the University of Illinois, where he was a professor
for 32 years. The objective of this paper is to analyse, through Peck's biography, his
contribution to the field of geotechnics based on his research, teaching and
consultancy work, and through the influence of Peck on other important people
in the field, such as Karl Terzaghi.
Structural engineer to structural engineer: conversation with Steve Johnston
