It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of William Chang at the age of 89. A true H&H legend, Willie worked at Hardesty & Hanover for 60 years.  During his long tenure, he designed dozens of H&H’s most complex bridges and truly established himself as one of the world’s top bridge engineers. Willie’s contributions to H&H and the industry are immeasurable.  Much more than just an extraordinary engineer, Willie was a great teacher, mentor, and friend to everyone at H&H. He strived for and achieved excellence in everything he did.

Every year we honor one engineer with an award named the Willie Chang Award in honor of Willie. The award is “in recognition and appreciation of a career of outstanding accomplishments and contributions to H&H and our industry.”   Willie was the first recipient.  In 134 years of H&H’s history, it is the only award given out that is named after an employee.

“A rare engineering talent, Willie only needed a week, a calculator, a few notebook pages, and a single 11×17 piece of paper to design and detail a new bridge.  And the story is true – every answer could be found somewhere on that single sheet of paper.  I learned that first-hand. Willie was an extraordinary person who lived a life full of incredible accomplishments and happiness.  We will all miss him very much,”  said H&H CEO Sean Bluni.  Sean was one of many young engineers that Willie mentored.

Our sympathies go out to Willie’s family, friends, colleagues at H&H, and associates worldwide.