IAPA recognizes Marshall Thompson for his 'outstanding' contributions

Marshall Thompson wasted no time jump starting his civil engineering career, spending the summer of his junior year of high school as an engineering technician for the Illinois Department of Transportation. 

“A contractor that was on the job I was working on said, ‘Hey, the Association of General Contractors of Illinois provide a scholarship in highway engineering at the University of Illinois,’” Thompson said.

Thompson quickly threw his name in the hat for this opportunity, and like fate, he received the scholarship, launching what would become a lifelong career at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Thompson went on to earn a doctorate in civil engineering from UIUC in 1964. In 1962, he earned his first role at UIUC as a research associate before becoming a professor in 1970 and the rest is history.

The now UIUC Department of Civil Engineering professor emeritus was recently acknowledged by the Illinois Asphalt Paving Association for his “outstanding contribution” to the asphalt paving industry during the 82^nd annual IAPA Meeting at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Springfield earlier in March.

Thompson, who was both “honored” and “surprised” at such recognition, was admittedly glad to see the fruition of his career-long efforts.

“It reinforces the thoughts I always had that hard work and dedication and trying to help the industry and my students is a good way to spend your life and your career,” Thompson said. “It makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over.”

Thompson spent much of his career efforts conducting transformational transportation research for IDOT.

“I’ve had continuous research with IDOT since 1960,” Thompson said. “I worked with soil and material stabilization, and I’ve had continuous support from IDOT since that time.”

Thompson’s early work resulted in the development of full-depth asphalt pavement design procedures for IDOT, which was used to strengthen interstate infrastructure.

“They (IDOT) never used to build flexible pavements on high-type locations like interstates,” Thompson said.

He also helped develop the rubblization of concrete technique, which includes cracking the overlay’s concrete and rolling it out to remove any existing distress in the pavement to prevent future cracking — a concept that is now widely used across the state.

In the late ‘60s, a couple of former students of Thompson’s reached out asking him to help build the Vietnam National Highway 1, which connects Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh across the Mekong Delta.

Despite the animosity that came with the Vietnam War era, Thompson traveled to Vietnam to consult with the U.S. Navy to launch the project.

Currently, Thompson has a few IDOT projects on his plate concerning flexible pavements. The projects are slated to take a few more years. Even once complete, Thompson has no plans of leaving engineering anytime soon.

“I still plan on keeping plugged in and helping the cause,” he said.

His advice for aspiring civil engineers?

“Don’t get too focused,” he said. “I have a favorite expression that I’ve used for many, many years and it is this: Do not measure with a micrometer, mark with a grease pencil, and cut with an axe, which means keep it practical and applied.”

Illinois Center for Transportation is incredibly grateful to Thompson for his many continued years of service paving a bright future for tomorrow’s civil engineers.

“(Marshall Thompson) is a prolific force,” ICT Director Imad Al-Qadi said. “He has laid the foundation of Illinois roads. He has, quite literally, connected us all.”