Wyly, L. T. (Lawrence Theodore), 1893-1981

Lawrence Theodore Wyly was born in Cardington, Ohio, on July 6, 1893. He received his B.A. from Oberlin College in 1916. During World War I he saw combat as a pilot for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Wyly earned his BSCE (1920) and CE (1938) degrees at the University of Minnesota. He joined the civil engineering faculty of Northwestern University in 1938.

From 1920 to 1938 Wyly worked in industry, primarily designing and supervising construction of railway and highway bridges. In 1938 he came to Northwestern University as an assistant professor of civil engineering. He was promoted to associate professor in 1941. In 1946 he moved to Purdue as professor of structural engineering and department head. Wyly left Purdue in 1955 and returned to Northwestern as professor of civil engineering and as director of the model truss bridge research project. A dispute with Dean Harold Gotaas of the Technological Institute led to Wyly's removal as director of the bridge project in 1959. He retired from the university in 1961.

Wyly married Laura Shoemaker in 1921; the couple had no children. Wyly died on January 23, 1981.

From the guide to the Lawrence T. Wyly (1893-1981) Papers, 1904-1980, (Northwestern University Archives)