William Barclay Parsons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See also Ralph M. Parsons founder of Parsons Corporation, another large civil engineering firm)
William Barclay Parsons (April 15, 1859 - May 9, 1932) was a famous American civil engineer. He founded the firm that became Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the largest American civil engineering firms.
Parsons received a bachelor's degree from Columbia College in 1879, and a second from Columbia's School of Mines in 1882.
Parsons designed the Cape Cod Canal. He was also Chief Engineer of the New York Rapid Transit Commission, and as such responsible for the construction of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway line. A part of 158th Street in Queens New York City was named after him as Parsons Blvd.
[edit] Personality
- Apart from his professional accomplishments, he was also a vicious anti-semite, taking an aggressive role in the anti-Jewish policies of Columbia University during the early part of the twentieth century.
