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MILTON PIKARSKY
1 924-1 989
BY ANTON TEDESKO
MILTON PIKARSKY was born March IS, 1924, in New York
City and he died on June 15, 1989, of a heart attack in
Washington, D.C., on one of his countless trips to partici-
pate in professional meetings. His home was in Yonkers,
New York, his office at the City University of New York
(CUNY). Most of his aclult life was spent in Chicago, where
his name is identified with some of the outstanding
achievements in public works and transportation.
Pikarsky was a talented, experienced, productive, hard-
working civil engineer, a most dedicated public servant; he
provided leadership in public positions of trust and responsi-
bility. An expert in substance as well as in procedure, he
had the initiative, the opportunity, and the authority to get
things done. The challenge of his job, the opportunity to
serve, inspired and drove him to excellence. He viewed his
work as a service to the region and to the people of that
region. He found his reward in that knowledge.
His parents were immigrants from Moldavia, now one of
the Soviet socialist republics. They settler! in New York
City and led a rather frugal life, working hard in their
candy store, later in their hat shop; they made sacrifices so
that their children would have what they lacked: a good
education. Milton was influenced and impressed by his
mother. She and his family experience, public schools,
285
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
and the City College of New York shaped his thinking and
values. He was committed to the need for education and
research to enable engineers to make contributions to the
community, which he believed were their professional respon-
sibilit,Y. He was used to making a serious study of whatever
engaged his active mind. He served as personal or profes-
sional mentor to many of those with whom he came in
contact.
Pikarsky graduated from City College in 1944 with a degree
in civil engineering and went to work for the New York
Central Railroad. With World War II still going on, he
soon took a leave of absence to serve in the U.S. Navy.
Following military service, he spent ten years with the rail-
road as assistant engineer in Chicago; during some of that
time he was in charge of the reconstruction of the LaSalle
Street Station. In 1956 he became a partner in the firm of
Plumb, Tuckett & Pikarsky, specializing in the design and
construction of highway and railroad bridges.
In 1960 he began his official relationship with the city of
Chicago, which would soon make him a key figure in Chicago's
public works history. The administration of Mayor Richard
I. Daley was a critical period of growth and change for the
CitY. The challenge of builelin~ anr1 r`,h,~il~lin~ rf~n,~ir~f1
. ~ . .
_ O ~
~~r~ ~~ ,,,^ ~ ~ ~ ~^ ~ ~
people ot engineering and administrative talents, and the
Mayor attracted and recruited a nationally respected profes-
sional staff. He had first noticed Pikarsky's ability when
Pikarsky was an enthusiastic member of the team designing
and building the east end of the Congress Expressway under-
neath the Main Post Office and the LaSalle Street Station.
Pikarsky brought his unbelievable optimism, energy, and
dedication to this challenging project.
At the age of thirty-six, Pikarsky was picked by Daley to
be the engineer of public works for the city of Chicago,
and was regarded as one of the mayor's most competent
and trusted cabinet members. Four years later, at age forty,
he was picked to serve as Chicago's youngest commissioner
of public works. During his tenure, he supervised more
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MILTON PIKARSKY
287
than $] billion in public works construction, including the
expansion of O'Hare Airport, the construction of the Water
Purification Plant, the building of the Adiai Stevenson Ex-
pressway, the extension of rapid transit lines, and the con-
struction of many sewers and bridges. His Northwest Incin-
erator was an early example of a waste-to-energy facility.
The Sears Tower, the worId's tallest building, might have
been two smaller buildings if it had not been for Pikarsky's
critical role and intervention in arranging for all the tech-
nical clearances needed to assure this tower's feasibility.
Pikarsky was elected Chicago's Engineer of the Year; at
times he was the focus of critical attention of the public
and the media. Numerous times he was on the verge of
being "fired" when he insisted on doing what he thought
was the right thing professionally, and not what local poli-
ticians demanded. The mayor was on his side and backed
him in the face of political pressure. But, at times the
mayor hid behind Pikarsky or conveniently maple him the
scapegoat when the mayor had difficulties with members of
his own party.
On occasion, Pikarsky experienced great disappointment
when his plans fell victim to party politics. He had proudly
assembled a talented interdisciplinary team of engineers,
architects, and planners that came up with many innovative
features for the design of the Crosstown Expressway; this
road was to allow traffic on the interstate to bypass downtown
Chicago. The project became a political football, and was
cancelled when a candidate for the election of governor
demanded that the project be killed. The only portion
saved was what is now known as the Kennedy Expressway
with its extension to O'Hare airport.
It was during this period that Pikarsky earned an M.S. in
civil engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology (~IT),
where years later he became a faculty member.
In 1973 Pikarsky was elected to the National Academy of
Engineering (NAE), and he was confirmed as chairman of
the Chicago Transit Authority. As Mayor Daley's chief
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
transportation expert, Pikarsky's reputation and influence
were felt on the national scene. He was a tireless advocate
of federal support for urban transit and worked with the
staffs of congressmen in Washington on changes in public
works legislation. He was instrumental in moving legislation
towards enactment for equitable treatment of persons displaced
by federally assisted programs. It was a high point of satis-
faction for Pikarsky when President Nixon signed the bill
that provided a ten-fold increase in the capital funding for
transit. Pikarsky had conceivecl, drafted, and worked in
Washington on this and other bills that were strongly supported
by the Illinois congressional representatives mobilized by
Pikarsky.
Pikarsky was active and held offices in many organizations,
such as the American Public Works Association (APWA),
and the National League of Cities and its Steering Committee
on Transportation. He substituted for Richard Daley at
the U.S. Conference of Mayors, was chairman of committees
on urban transportation goals and objectives, and on mass
transportation; he was president of the Western Society of
Engineers, and chairman of its Transportation Division.
His approach to transit was regional and bipartisan. He
played a major role on a task force set up by the Republican
governor, which in 1975 led to the formation of the Regional
Transportation Authority (RTA). After political infighting,
Pikarsky was selected as its first chairman. The RTA had
jurisdiction over four counties (Republican and Democratic);
it operated like a government and had taxing authority.
Pikarsky thus became the czar of the regional commuter
railroads, the rapid transit system, and the city's and suburban
bus lines. A regional gasoline tax was designed to discourage
commuters from driving to work.
Milton Pikarsky was married in 1947 to Sally Nessel; they
had two children, Amy and Joel. Milton's habit of working
fourteen to sixteen hours every day was not conducive to a
balanced family life. Sally came down with a long, serious
illness and was confined to a hospital where Milton visited
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MILTON PIKARSKY
289
her daily until her full recovery. In 1975 by amicable
agreement, Milton and Sally parted. Milton moved to an
apartment where his commuting time between home and
office was reduced to a few minutes. After years of a life
fillet! with professional work, he came rather late to the
realization that it was also necessary for him to have a per-
sonal life and the children to whom he was devoted became
one of his priorities.
More and more Milton became involved in transportation
research and he lectured regularly on transportation subjects
at the University of Illinois and at the Illinois Institute of
Technology. In 1978 he resigned from the RTA in view of
the political changes that had taken place in Chicago. He
joined the Research Institute of ITT and devoted a considerable
amount of time to bring his public works experience to
bear on the curriculum. The graduate program he developed
received official recognition.
In his 1977 seminars at the Chicago Campus of the Uni-
versity of Illinois, he was assigned a bright, young graduate
assistant, Christine Johnson from Laramie, Wyoming, who
was finishing her Ph.D. in planning. Milton became her
adviser, mentor, and colleague. They were married in 1978,
and for the eleven years until his death, they were each
other's best friend.
On assignment from the World Bank, Pikarsky reviewed
transportation structures in the Buenos Aires metropolitan
area. He became a member of an international team serv-
ing the economic minister of Argentina. Similar assignments
involved entering the planning process and expanding public
transit systems in the United States and Canada. Pikarsky
participated in international conferences and transportation
assignments in European countries, as well as in Australia.
On a two-week transportation tour of the Soviet Union,
arranged by the U.S. Department of Transportation, he
covered numerous republics and cities; on his own he roamed
the Moscow subway, where he took dozens of photos of
small children and then presented each of these smiling
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
and wide-eyed children with the Polaroid picture just taken-
a dramatic novelty. This was characteristic of his compassion
and warm human qualities.
Pikarsky was busy in Washington, as a member of the
National Research Council's (NRC) Transportation Research
Board (TRB) from 1974 to 1978, and as a member of the
TRB Executive Committee from 1982 to 1989; he served as
chairman of the TRB from 1975 to 1976. He chaired the
Committee for NRC Oversight for seven years, ensuring
that TRB's activities conformed to NRC standards and
guidelines. Pikarsky's dedication and energies through many
years with TRB were recognized by the W. N. Carey, in
Distinguished Service Award ~ ~ 988) .
Here are several of his many other honors: the Urban
Administration Award of ITT (1968~; the Townsend Harris
Medal of the City College of New York (1969~; the James
Laurie Prize (1977) and the Civil Government Award (1973),
both from the American Society of Civil Engineers of which
Pikarsky was a fellow; and the Meritorious Service Award of
the APWA (1984~. He was declared one of the Ten Top
Public Works Leaders of the Year by the APWA (1969~.
Pikarsky was active in an unbelievably large number of
professional, academic, industrial, and civic organizations.
Within a dozen years, he held office in twenty organizations
including chairmanship of six subcommittees of NRC. He
was chairman of NRC's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)
Impact Program Advisory Committee and a member of its
Committee on Public Engineering Policy; and a member of
NAE's Awards Committee and of its Civil Engineering Peer
Committee. Pikarsky kept up with friends at city, county,
state, and federal levels. He wrote or coauthored sixty-
seven articles and two professional books; his papers were
on technical subjects and on questions of policy.
At IIT in Chicago, he pursued efforts to coordinate
transportation research activities of several universities. He
planned, with several other universities, to establish an In-
stitute of Transportation Systems (ITS) at IIT; his entrepre-
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MILTON PIKARSKY
291
neurial flair helped him to convince people that his plans
should be executed. However, ITT was not in a position
financially to start any new ventures, so Pikarsky looked
elsewhere for the realization of his dreams.
The key figures in Chicago public works considered Milton
Pikarsky their leader, a colleague, a friend, a mentor, and a
member of their family. But first and foremost, they considered
him a builder. When asked about the secret of success,
Pikarsky replied that while ability certainly helps, what really
counts are persistence, willingness to take risks, and good
luck. He added that his secret of being lucky was to give
oneself enough chances to be lucky by trying things and
taking risks. Sometimes the result might be exposure to
situations that might not be pleasant, but at other times
the result might be "good luck".
All along Pikarsky felt indebted to the City College of
New York for having given him an excellent education,
tuition-free; he felt, therefore, an obligation to give of himself
to the new generation studying at what is now the City
University of New York. This institution that gave him his
start in life asked him in 1985 to return as a distinguished
professor of civil engineering, and to set up a transportation
research institute. He believed he owed it to the institu-
tion; so he came back to his alma mater, leaving Chicago
and friends after more than forty years, and moved to New
York where he was relatively unknown. He bought a house
in Yonkers and his wife, Christine, became director of
Transportation Planning for the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey.
Milton enjoyed making repairs around the house and on
the car. They both worked late in their offices and hacl
hurried' dinners on weekdays after returning home together;
on Sundays Milton enjoyed cooking dinners or taking trips
in their trailer camper.
At CUNY, Pikarsky helped establish and became the head
of the Institute of Transportation Systems; he organizer}
and became the executive director of a Transportation Re-
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MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
search Consortium, in which twelve universities of the east-
ern United States (including Columbia, Cornell, and Princeton)
jointly conducted research, training, and technology trans-
fer. At the same time, he filled what may be called another
full-time job as director of Engineering Studies for the Na-
tional Council of Public Works Improvement, a Washington
assignment commissioned by the President and by the Con-
gress. Pikarsky inspired staff members to strive for excellence;
during this evaluation, he counseled and supported them
through difficulty. He selflessly gave guidance and advice
on the condition of public works in the United States, resulting
in recommendations to the President and to the Congress.
At the same time, on yet another full-time assignment, he
served as a consultant on problems nationwide, was a con-
sultant to the commissioner of Transportation of New York
State, and kept up his active membership on numerous
committees engaged in a variety of engineering causes.
Milton Pikarsky was a kind, compassionate, and caring
person, personally modest, an optimist with vision and faith,
integrity, and tenacity. He felt obligated to help people
and enjoyed doing so. He took young people under his
wing. It never occurred to him that some might not like
what he was doing; when people opposed him, he never
doubted their good intentions or motives.
Pikarsky became a civic statesman, using quiet determined
efforts; he loved challenges and thrived on clifficult assign-
ments. He saw public service as the highest calling. Look-
ing back at his professional life, it could be said that he
had the mind of an imaginative technocrat and the heart
of an idealist.
He is survived by his wife Christine Johnson, who has
been appointed assistant commissioner of transportation
for New Jersey, and his children Amy (in Los Angeles) and
Joel (in Ft. Collins, Colorado).
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
civil engineering
