Background
Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, he was the son of John Hopkins Morison, a Unitarian minister.
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George Shattuck Morison
Edit ProfileEducation
At age 14, he entered Phillips Exeter Academy and graduated by age 16. After a brief break he attended Harvard Law School where he would receive a Bachelor of Laws degree by 1866 and was admitted to the New York Bar.
Career
He went on to Harvard College where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1863 when he was just 20. In 1867, with only general mathematics training and an aptitude for mechanics, he abandoned the practice of law and pursued a career as a civil engineer and builder of bridges. He would apprentice under the supervision of engineer Octave Chanute during the construction of the first bridge to cross the Missouri River, the swing-span Kansas City Bridge.
He is known for many steel truss bridges he designed, including several crossing the Missouri River, Ohio River and the Mississippi River.
He was instrumental in changing its recommended location from Nicaragua to Panama. Morison died in his rooms at 36 West 50th Street in New York, and was buried in Peterborough, New Hampshire, where he had a summer home (and designed the town library).
Achievements
Membership
Morison was a member of several important engineering committees, the most important of which was the Isthmus Canal Commission.
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Born
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Died
July 1, 1903 (aged 60)