Stephen Jr Bechtel

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American engineer and corporate magnate; third generation of the Bechtel family leaders in the engineering and construction industry; chairman emeritus of the Bechtel corporation. He achieved presidential recognition for his technological achievements and outstanding leadership in his profession. Bechtel attended college first at University of Colorado, then at Purdue University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. During high school and college he spent his summers in the field. His first assignment with Bechtel was in 1941 as a field engineer on the Texas pipeline project. Next he worked on projects in Canada. In 1952 he returned to San Francisco as vice president of Bechtel and board chairman of Canadian Bechtel Ltd. He was made president of Bechtel in 1960 and continued to lead his company and the industry in technological innovations in such diverse fields as space exploration, nuclear power processes, saline water conversion, wastewater treatment, air and water pollution abatement, energy conservation and undersea systems. Bechtel has served as director on many corporate boards and made contributions to U.S. government efforts including President Lyndon Johnson’s Committee on Urban Housing and President Richard Nixon’s National Industrial Pollution Control Council, the National Commission on Productivity and the Labor-Management Committee. In 1990, one of his five children, son Riley P. Bechtel became the fourth generation to head Bechtel as Stephen retired from line management. In 1991 President Bush awarded Stephen Bechtel, Jr. the National Medal of Technology, the highest U.S. honor for technological achievement. Link to Wikipedia biography