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JOSEPH MORTON CALDWELL
1911-1980
BY JACOB H. DOUMA
jOSEPH M. CALDWELL, formerly the top civilian engineering official
in the Army Corps of Engineers, died in Arlington, Virginia, on
December 21, 1980. His professional career began at the U.S.
Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1933,
and he retired as Chief of the Engineering Division of the Director-
ate of Civil Works, Office of the Chief of Engineers, in 1973, after
forty years of federal service. He had a major impact on research
and development of coastal engineering technology worldwide and
was responsible for design or consulting work on every major com-
mercial harbor in the United States and on major harbors in twenty
foreign countries, largely under the Agency for International Devel-
opment. He was recognized as one of the world's foremost coastal
engineers.
Born on December 19, 1911, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Mr.
Caldwell received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Mis-
sissippi State University in 1932. During World War II, after gradu-
ating from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School, he
spent four years as an Engineer Intelligence Officer and was dis-
charged with the rank of Major in 1946, when he returned to civilian
service with the Corps of Engineers.
Mr. Caldwell was with the Coastal Engineering Research Center,
formerly the Beach Erosion Board, from 1946 to 1971 and served as
its Technical Director from 1963 to 1971. During this period he
made innovations in the field of emergency shore protection and
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38
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
scale-model testing techniques, researched methods for predicting
hurricane wave heights, and set standards for constructing deep-
water ports for large oil tankers. Following the 1962 East Coast
hurricane, he quickly developed the "Caldwell section," which
formed the emergency shore protection fill placed along the U.S.
seaboard; it formed the backbone for subsequent protective works.
In 1971 he was appointed Chief of the Engineering Division of the
Directorate of Civil Works, Office of the Chief of Engineers. Mr.
Caldwell was responsible for supervising the engineering and design
of the Nation's largest water resource development program, with a
design output covering over $1 billion of construction work annually
in the areas of flood control, navigation improvement, harbor devel-
opment, beach erosion control, hurricane protection, wastewater
control, water quality improvement, and hydroelectric power plants.
Following a dam disaster in West Virginia, he was instrumental in
drafting legislation for a national dam safety inspection program. As
an engineering executive, he made great policy and management
leadership contributions to the successful accomplishment of the
Corps of Engineers' enormous annual construction program.
All during his long professional career, Joseph Caldwell devoted a
significant amount of time to engineering society activities. He was a
member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, International
Association for Hydraulic Research, Coastal Engineering Council of
the Engineering Foundation, Marine Technology Society, American
Geophysical Union, International Union of Geodesy and Geophys-
ics, and Washington Academy of Science.
He served on the Marine Science Advisory Committee for the
Smithsonian Institution. After retiring in 1973, he practiced as a
consulting engineer for private industry and the U.S. Government
and was a consultant on coastal engineering in eight South Ameri-
can countries, four African nations, Canada, Portugal, India, Thai-
land, South Vietnam, and Bermuda.
During his career Mr. Caldwell's professional accomplishments
were recognized by numerous honors, including the National Civil
Service League Career Service Award, two Arrny Meritorious Civil-
ian Service awards, and the Navy's Southeast Asia Civilian Service
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JOSEPH MORTON CALDWELL
39
Award for his work on port development in Vietnam. He was elected
to the National Academy of Engineering in 1973.
Recognizing that a well-rounded man's total contributions to life
involve more than a distinguished career in his occupational spe-
cialty, Joe, as he was called by everyone, gave unstintingly of himself
to his fellow citizens in a number of religious, charitable, and civic
activities. Among these were the local PTA, Boy Scouts, church
visiting committees to alcoholic and penal institutions, teaching Sun-
day School for thirty-five years, and serving on the boards of direc-
tors for several church and benevolent institutions.
Throughout his career, Joe Caldwell combined the fundamental
curiosity of the research scientist with the practical thinking of the
engineer. His achievements exemplify the classic purpose of the engi-
neer, that is, to understand nature and to modify and control
nature's forces so as to meet the basic needs of mankind. His out
standing contributions in coastal engineering are well documented
in his numerous writings in books, encyclopedias, and professional
journals, but his influence on the prevention of coastal erosion is
more far reaching than the publications indicate. It provides the
basis for engineers to conserve and to improve our beaches and
shorelines for use as recreational areas, as wildlife habitats, and as
barriers to coastal flooding.
foe Caldwell was a very friendly and informal man, revered by all
his friends and associates. His sincere compassion and outstanding
work have not reached their end. Both will continue to serve man-
kind on earth for many years to come.
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civilian service
