Dr. Reese moved with his family from Arkansas to Abilene, Texas when he was in high school. After high school the hardships of the Great Depression prevented him from attending college as he so desired, but instead he worked various jobs to help support his family. Dr. Reese’s first exposure to the marvels of engineering came when he landed a job with the Civil Service as a land surveyor. He was sent to the Rio Grande Valley to set the surveying stakes for building the levees. From there he transferred to a position in Alabama working on the construction of an ordinance plant. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dr. Reese moved with his mother for similar work in Oklahoma where he volunteered for the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions (affectionately known as the “Sea Bees”). He served as Chief Petty Officer in the Aleutians and Okinawa, Japan.

Upon discharge from the military, like many soldiers who at that time could not afford an education, Dr. Reese utilized the GI Bill to pursue his university studies. He was accepted to Rice University as a freshman at age 29. He earned 22 semester hours in a fast-track semester and lettered on the golf team. He then transferred to The University of Texas where a more flexible degree plan was offered. While at UT Austin he married fellow-student Eva Lee Jett and their first child Sally was born in 1949. After receiving his Master's Degree Dr. Reese accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Mississippi State University. After a year there, he took a leave from Mississippi State and moved his family which now included two children (Sally and John) and went to the University of California at Berkeley for his PhD studies. His college education was funded by the GI Bill, a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation, and a competitive fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

Dr. Reese and Eva Lee’s third child, Nancy, arrived in 1955, as the family was preparing for a move back to Austin where Dr. Reese accepted a position as Assistant Professor at The University of Texas. He spent the remainder of his academic career at UT Austin. Dr. Reese was the Nasser I. Al Rashid Chair Emeritus and Professor of Civil Engineering and was Chairman of the Department from 1965 until 1972. He was Associate Dean of the College for Research from 1972 until 1979. He maintained a close relationship with the University and taught courses even after his retirement in 1984.

It was in 1985 that Dr. Reese founded his company Ensoft, Inc. and its consulting subsidiary, Lymon C. Reese & Associates. His company was formed for the purpose of providing quality products and services in geotechnical and structural engineering. To this date, Ensoft, Inc. remains strong and continues with the original ideas and mission on which Dr. Reese founded the company -- to provide valuable practical software tools and expertise for the engineering community.

In addition to his years of teaching and professional engineering services to the public and private sector, Dr. Reese completed extensive research over the course of his career in the field of geotechnical engineering, principally concerning the behavior of deep foundations. He pioneered in the performance of field studies of instrumented piles and developed analytical methods now widely used in the design of major structures. He authored or co-authored more than 160 papers in refereed journals and 282 technical reports. He was the senior author of two recent books on foundation engineering. He has presented over 450 invited lectures in the United States and abroad.

Dr. Reese was selected in 1986 by the American Society of Civil Engineers as the Terzaghi Lecturer, and he received the Terzaghi Award in 1983. He was chosen by his peers to receive the Joe J. King Professional Achievement Award from the College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, in February, 1977. He was invited by the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section of ASCE to present the 2004 Arthur Casagrande Memorial Lecture in Boston.

He was an active member of ASCE for many years and was elected Honorary Member in 1984. He held various offices in the Texas Section and was President of the Texas Section in 1968-69. For several years he served as a member of the Executive Committee, Geotechnical Engineering Division, and was Chairman in 1986-87.

Significant honors received by Dr. Reese include the Offshore Technology Conference Distinguished Achievement Award for Individuals in 1985, and the Distinguished Graduate Award of the College of Engineering, The University of Texas, in 1985. He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering in 1975. He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Civil Engineering Institute of Bucharest, Romania, in 1994. During his 33-year career at The University of Texas, Dr. Reese supervised 71 graduate students who received an M.S. or PhD in Civil Engineering. Eva Lee frequently worked with the wives and children of these students, making them welcome in the United States, assisting them with housing, shopping, and local resources. Twelve of the students became professors at universities worldwide, and at least eight established businesses that have hundreds of employees.

In his 92-year life, Lymon brought extraordinary joy, kindness, care, knowledge, and wisdom to all the people who knew him. We are blessed to have shared life with such a legend. We all miss him but will keep him in our memories forever.

Visitation will be held from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 17th at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home (3125 North Lamar, Austin, Texas 78705).

Funeral services will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday, September 18th at Highland Park Baptist Church (5206 Balcones Dr, Austin, Texas 78731). Interment to follow at Austin Memorial Park (2800 Hancock Dr, Austin, Texas 78731).

In lieu of flowers, gifts in honor and memory of Lymon may be made to The University of Texas at Austin in support of the Lymon and Eva Lee Reese Endowed Excellence Fund. Please direct checks to UT Cockrell School of Engineering, 1 University Station C2100, Austin, Texas 78712. Donations may also be made online at: Make a Gift in Memory of Lymon.

Colleagues, students, friends and family from many countries have sent messages and shared some of their memories with Dr Reese. You can click here to submit stories, photos or comments that you would like to share. In time we will arrange and share those photos and articles with links from this site.