In Memoriam: James Douglas

Captain James Douglas, U.S. Navy (USN), Retired, one of the original four faculty members of the Construction Engineering and Management graduate program at Stanford University, died on February 24, 2013, in San Rafael, California. In 1975, when the Construction Division of ASCE (the predecessor to the Construction Institute) celebrated the Division’s Golden Jubilee, Douglas authored a short paper, titled the “Past and Future of Construction Equipment–Part III.” In 1975, he also authored the book Construction Equipment Policy. His work and writings provided the foundation for all that followed in construction equipment economics. As a fellow in the ASCE, he was awarded the ASCE Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize in 1969 and the ASCE Construction Management Award in 1975.

Douglas was born in Uvalde, Texas on October 1, 1914. He grew up in San Antonio, Texas and graduated from high school at the age of 16. As a youth, he earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Before he entered the United States Naval Academy at 20 years of age, he rode in a Calvary Regiment of the Texas Army National Guard (ARNG). He graduated from the Naval Academy with distinction and was commissioned in June 1938.

The motto of the Navy Seabees, “Can Do,” summarizes his first career. In his early years, he served on board the USS Salt Lake City and the USS Wichita. In 1941, he married Sarah Maria “Sally” Bisset and continued his education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, earning a Master of Civil Engineering degree in 1943. During WWII, he served in various Navy Seabee assignments, beginning with duty in the Aleutian Islands (Attu and Adak) and then the assault on Okinawa with the 87th Seabee Battalion. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V” for heroic service during the campaign on Okinawa in World War II. His long naval career moved him around the globe with his family. Capt. Douglas commanded the construction of a major naval air base at Subic Bay, Philippines (the largest peacetime earth-moving job since the Panama Canal). Initially, the work was to be accomplished by civilian contractors, but the jungle at Cubi Point, the location of the 10,000-ft long runway into Subic Bay, and the Zambales Mountains discouraged their interest in the work, so the project was give to the Seabees in 1951. He was later Director of the Seabee Division in Washington, DC and from 1956–1959 was in charge of the construction of eight Seabee bases in the Antarctic (Operation Deep Freeze). He retired as Captain in August of 1961.

Immediately after retirement from the Navy, he started a second career in academia at the age of 46 years. After two years at Stanford University, he received a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering and then accepted a faculty appointment. He taught and conducted research on construction equipment economics at Stanford University until he retired as an Emeritus Professor in 1980. He founded an executive education program for construction managers called “Stanford Sierra Construction College.” He was one of the first in the field of construction engineering to apply computer technology to complex engineering problems.

He said, “I didn’t feel old until I was 95 years old.” Requiescat in pace.