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GERALD T. McCARTHY
1 909-1 990
BY WILSON V. BINGER
GERALD T. MCCARTHY, retired senior partner and chairman
of the engineering, architectural, and planning firm of Tippetts-
Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton (TAMS) in NewYork, died on Novem-
ber 21, 1990, at the age of eighty-one. He had Parkinson's disease
for many years.
McCarthy was born in Dover, New Jersey, in 1909 and gradu-
ated from Pennsylvania State University in 1930 with a B.S. in
civil engineering, magna cum laude. He joined the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers as a junior engineer and spent eight years
with the Corps in several offices working on various flood
control, navigation, and power projects reaching the grade of
senior engineer. During his government service he developed
many methods and techniques in hydrology and water resources
planning that are still used today.
McCarthy left the Corps in 1938 tojoin whet was then Parsons,
Klapp, Brinckerhoff, and Douglas of New York and spent the
next nine years working in Latin America; much of this time he
was a special partner in charge of the firm's work in Venezuela
and Colombia.
After moving back to the United States, hejoined TAMS (then
known as the Knappen Engineering Company) in 1947, and his
name was added to the firm's partnership that same year. Largely
through his efforts the firm became engaged in water resources
development activities throughout much of the world. Among
123
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124
MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
many notable projects, he oversaw a countrywide technical and
economic survey of Burma in the mid-1950s. He was also much
involved in major works in Greece, Morocco, the Philippines,
Taiwan, and Turkey. McCarthy retired from TAMS in December
1974 after twenty-seven years of service; during most of that time,
he was the acknowledged leader of the firm. He had the vision
and imagination that brought the firm to be one of the foremost
consulting firms in the United States and the world. He re-
cruited many capable and expert engineers within the firm,
some of whom later became partners themselves. He was always
quick to recognize and promote talented people.
However, McCarthy's energies were not applied only to his
firm. He also found time to provide leadership to the engineer-
ing profession, both nationally and internationally. He was
president of the International Commission on Large Dams from
1964 to 1967, after having served as vice-president for three
years. He had earlier been chairman of the United States
Committee on Large Dams. He was president of the American
Institute of Consulting Engineers in 1961. He served as a direc-
tor and as a member of the Executive Committee of the Interna-
tional Road Federation, the presidency of which he declined
because of other commitments. He was named an honorary
member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and chair-
man of the National Water Policy Committee. He was a regis-
terecl professional engineer in seven states, the District of Co-
lumbia, and the Panama Canal Zone.
McCarthy was elected to the National Academy of Engineer-
ing in 1973. His other memberships included the National
Society of Professional Engineers, the Society of American Mili-
tary Engineers, the American Geophysical Union, the American
Geographical Society, the Moles, the American Water Works
Association, the U.S. National Committee of International Com-
mission on Irrigation and Drainage (member and cofounder),
Tau Beta Phi, Chi Epsilon, Phi Mu Alpha, Kappa Gamma Pi, and
Phi Kappa Theta. In addition to his professional memberships,
McCarthy was a member of the Equestrian Order of the Knights
of the Holy Sepulchre in NewYork and a member of SaintTeresa
of Avila Church in Summit, New Jersey. He had also been a
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GERALD T. MCCARTHY
125
member of the board of trustees of Canoe Brook Country Club.
He received the Distinguished Alumnus of Pennsylvania State
University Award.
Much of McCarthy's success, and there was a lot of success, was
in my opinion the result of his personality. It was not only
dynamic he always appeared to be the outstanding person in
any group- but also represented a real interest in people. He
knew all his key employees, a hundred or more, on a first name
or nickname basis, and he also knew their hobbies, the names of
their wives and children, and so on, which was all made possible
by a wonclerfu] memory. He was always ready to interrupt his
work to receive visitors to the office, including overseas employ-
ees or former associates who might come by. He was an enthusi-
astic golfer, an amateur photographer, and a very occasional
· . ~ .
violinist.
McCarthy was married to Grace Baskerville McCarthy, who
predeceased him. He is survived by a daughter, Susan M. Relyea
of NewYork City; a son, George of Florham Park, NewJersey; and
two grandchildren.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
resources development
