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"Mather, Corps of Engineers"

2/1/2003

Those four words, stated before a question or a comment, were enough to strike terror into the heart of many speakers at an ACI technical session or seminar. Responding directly to the question or comment would often draw an equally direct "thank you" from Bryant Mather. But avoiding the issue raised by using a vague response was a major tactical error that would not go unpunished. Unfortunately, we won't hear those four words any longer-Mather died December 4, 2002, at the age of 85. The concrete industry, the Corps of Engineers, and the Institute have lost a true legend.

I was fortunate enough to work for Bryant at the Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station (WES) from 1978 to 1983. In this memo, I'll share a few of my personal thoughts.

Shortly after Bryant's death, ACI staff member Pat Levicki went through some old files and found a letter from Bryant dated April 24, 1951 (This letter is available here: Page 1 and Page 2). Bryant had just been appointed to TAC and this letter was apparently one of his first official actions. First, I would suggest that you ask yourself what you were doing in April 1951. I was five years old and had not yet started school! Second, I would suggest that the comments in the letter are just as valid today as when they were written. This letter points out one of Bryant's real strengths-his consistency in addressing all technical issues over the years.

I went to graduate school at Berkeley while on active duty as an officer in the U.S. Army. As I was finishing up there, the thought of where my next assignment would be became a critical issue. I had heard of the Concrete Lab at WES and made some feelers about being assigned there. Bryant later told me that he had "pulled some strings" with the folks in assignments and I ended up there. I will be always grateful to him for whatever he did because without the time working for him and seeing his dedication to the industry and the Institute, I would never have become seriously involved with the Institute and would certainly never have become President.

One of Bryant's management traits was to "interrogate" his staff engineers on a regular basis. I always suspected that he kept a schedule of when it was my turn, but given his near-photographic memory, the schedule was probably kept in his head. These sessions involved being asked into his office to discuss your current work or a report that had been recently submitted to him for review. Inevitably, there would be several trips to my office to get additional data. Equally inevitable was Bryant going to one of the bookshelves in his office, pulling out a book, and immediately finding a paper dealing with the topic we were discussing. He had already quoted, nearly verbatim, the pertinent portions of the text, so going to the reference was unnecessary but it certainly impressed me! These sessions would typically take up several hours and end when Bryant was satisfied that I wasn't doing anything that would embarrass the lab. The truth is that I never went into his office without learning something from Bryant.

If your thought processes were correct, it was possible to change Bryant's mind. One of our sessions involved a portion of a specification that I had written for the Corps' first major silica fume concrete project. To prevent plastic shrinkage cracking, I had written that curing compound was to be applied immediately after the concrete was finished. We spent several hours discussing when curing should be applied and why my recommendations were not correct. I finally convinced him that for concrete that doesn't bleed, there is no reason to wait to begin curing. Bryant embraced learning new concepts.

During my time as a young Chair of an ACI committee, I faced one of the real challenges of the Institute-having Bryant as a member. (Given that Bryant served on so many committees, many Institute members have shared this experience.) There was a fine line of who was controlling the committee. However, Bryant's other traits included the ability to listen, contribute, and finally synthesize the essence of a technical discussion. Ultimately, he would say: "Look, why don't we just say...?" His words usually resolved the situation in a manner that everyone could accept.

Finally, I will never write a compound adjective without adding a hyphen, write a series without adding the last comma, or ponder over using "which" or "that" without thinking of Bryant. I suspect that I'm not the only one in this position.

I started with four words, and will end with three that have particular significance to me: Duty, Honor, Country. Bryant Mather personified the meaning behind these words.

I can offer no higher tribute.

Terry Holland
President,
American Concrete Institute

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