Full Text of SR1239 101st General Assembly
SR1239 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | SR1239 | | LRB101 21705 ECR 72649 r |
|
| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to | 3 | | learn of the death of William "Bill" J. Hall of Urbana, who | 4 | | passed away on June 9, 2020; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Bill Hall was born to E. Raymond and Mary F. | 6 | | (Harkey) Hall in Berkeley, California on April 13, 1926; he was | 7 | | raised in Layfayette and was active in the 4-H; after his | 8 | | freshman year at the University of California at Berkeley, he | 9 | | became a midshipman in the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps | 10 | | from 1944 to 1945 and served in the Pacific war zone; he | 11 | | married Elaine Frances Thalman on December 18, 1948; that same | 12 | | year, he received his bachelor's degree in civil engineering | 13 | | from the University of Kansas;
he then received his master's | 14 | | degree in 1951 and doctoral degree in 1954 from the University | 15 | | of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC); and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Bill Hall became a professor of civil engineering | 17 | | at UIUC in 1959 and served as head of the Department of Civil | 18 | | Engineering from 1984 to 1991;
he retired as professor emeritus | 19 | | in 1993; during his time at the university, he provided | 20 | | specialized advanced training to 120 of the graduate students | 21 | | who worked with him, including 30 who received their doctorates | 22 | | under his guidance; in 1998, he was recalled to serve as | 23 | | interim director of the Research and Technology Management |
| | | SR1239 | - 2 - | LRB101 21705 ECR 72649 r |
|
| 1 | | Office of the campus;
within the university, he chaired or | 2 | | served on numerous major committees and was chair or an active | 3 | | member of numerous national and international technical | 4 | | committees; in 2004, he and his wife established the William J. | 5 | | and Elaine F. Hall Endowed Professorship in Civil and | 6 | | Environmental Engineering; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Bill Hall was highly respected in the field of | 8 | | earthquake engineering, both in academia and in his | 9 | | professional practice; he wrote over 200 formal publications | 10 | | and 150 major consulting reports; he worked on | 11 | | earthquake-resistant design, high-speed ground transportation | 12 | | systems, and seismic design criteria for nuclear power plants, | 13 | | and provided service to the U.S. Department of Defense; he also | 14 | | served as a member of the design team for the Trans-Alaska | 15 | | petroleum pipeline; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Bill Hall was elected to the National Academy of | 17 | | Engineering; he was the first to be awarded the Distinguished | 18 | | Faculty Award by the UIUC Department of Civil and Environmental | 19 | | Engineering Alumni Association; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Bill Hall was an active member of the First | 21 | | Presbyterian Church of Urbana, where he was an ordained elder, | 22 | | trustee, and a Stephen Minister; and
|
| | | SR1239 | - 3 - | LRB101 21705 ECR 72649 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, Bill Hall loved spending time and taking trips | 2 | | with his immediate and extended family; he was proud to be a | 3 | | WWII veteran, and his participation in an Honor Flight for WWII | 4 | | veterans to Washington, D.C. with his son Jim in 2012 was a | 5 | | highlight of his later years; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Bill Hall was preceded in death by his parents and | 7 | | his brothers, Hubert H. Hall and Benjamin D. Hall; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Bill Hall is survived by his wife; his three | 9 | | children, Martha (Matt) Sigler, James (Melody) Hall, and | 10 | | Carolyn (Larry) Vandendriessche; his four grandchildren, Andy | 11 | | (Kaitlin), Laura (Tim), Helen (Josh), and Lynn (Tom); and his | 12 | | two great-granddaughters, Olivia and Sophia; therefore, be it
| 13 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | 14 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
| 15 | | William "Bill" J. Hall and extend our sincere
condolences to | 16 | | his family, friends, and all who knew and loved
him; and be it | 17 | | further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
| 19 | | presented to the family of Bill Hall as an expression of
our | 20 | | deepest sympathy.
|
|