PEOPLE, PROJECTS AND EQUIPMENT Michael H. Wysockey: Charisma and Credentials Most people in the foundations industry are drawn to Mike Wysockey’s out- going warmth and sense of humor. They soon notice his superior intellect and business savvy. When Michael Moran of Cajun USA met Wysockey at a DFI event, he thought other people were “pulling his leg” by calling him Doctor. Then he realized that appellation is correct. Tom Nichols, Geothermal International, makes a similar observation: Wysockey, he says, is “very bright and does a good job at concealing it in an effort to make people comfortable.” Nichols adds that Wysockey’s confidence “permeates his entire company — people feed off it.” The company Nichols speaks of is Thatcher Foundations, run by two Wysockeys, Michael and his brother John. They were preceded by their father Tom, who is legendary in the Chicago area foundations world, according to many. He is described as a “fantastic old guard, shrewd business man,” by Nichols, who worked for Thatcher, and a man who “made his presence felt” by Bill Walton of GEI Consultants. Such accolades could have made some sons wary of filling such large shoes. John Wysockey sees his and his brother’s childhood differently. He calls it a decades-long apprenticeship with their father, an accomplished storyteller, among other characteristics. In fact, Mike Wysockey fought engi- neering as a career, envisioning a life of sitting at a desk doing math problems. So, in spite of his father’s objections, he began his freshman year at The Citadel, planning to study psychology. However, he says, he tried engineering in his sophomore year and found that he liked it. It was a classic case, he says, of “the older I got, the smarter dad became.” After The Citadel, Wysockey decided he liked engineering so much, he wanted to go to graduate school. Funding from his father was not forthcoming. As Wysockey puts it, his father’s idea of an acceptable graduate school would be something like the U.S. Marine Corps. In fact, his father had done military service before joining the Thatcher firm, where he worked his way up to the top, eventually buying his employer out. The younger Wysockey made his own way, albeit a different way, winning a research assistantship at MIT, then subsequently earning his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois. He had another offer from U.C. Berkeley, where he might have studied seismic aspects of ground engineering, he says, but Illinois offered funded research of deep foundations, specifically the axial capacity of drilled shafts. Wysockey thinks his education was a good mix of the theoretical and the practical, which served him well when he joined the family firm. Brother John joined shortly afterwards, and Michael believes they complement each other well. John is three years older and very well organized, and has an MBA as well as a civil engineering degree. John Wysockey describes his younger brother as “an extraordinarily bright,” and fun-loving guy who bring his spirit to everything he does.” He also sums up the Thatcher firm as being “unique in our conscientious approach to geotechnical construction problems.” Bill Walton, GEI, says Mike Wysockey is “one of the most practical Ph.D.s he’s ever met, combining theory, practice and constructability, and is also competitive.” As a businessman, Wysockey is both smart and savvy. Walton worked with Wysockey on the highly visible (and political) renovation of Soldier Field in Chicago. Walton was on the design side, and Thatcher, the contractor. In order to meet the mayor’s mandate, Walton says, Wysockey drove 2,300 piles in 6 weeks, while cutting the steel tonnage by one third—quite a feat. The project was also the first use of 18 ksi steel in Chicago. Walton was working for AECOM at the time, with colleague Clyde Baker. Baker says Mike Wysockey is “tops,” an honest engineer and contractor, he “gives it to you straight, and is a fun guy to work with.” Baker also notes Wysockey’s presence on the Chicago High- Rise Committee, a group of architects, engineers and contractors, where he was “possibly” the youngest man inducted to the influential organization. Influencing Others “What he sees becomes what you see,” says Nichols. Nichols adds that Thatcher is a 65-year old firm where there are “30-year men and 2-year men,” a combination that could pose age and experience barriers. He says Wysockey is working through a transition phase at Thatcher and “doing a fantastic job.” Nichols, who worked at Thatcher for 6 years, notes that Wysockey is also an excellent instructor who can teach difficult concepts. “He finds what you know, then using analogies, often in sports, explains complicated concepts.” Wysockey appears to many to have slowly made the transfer of more theoretical knowledge to the firm. Right now, they have just hired five new engineers and project managers who he thinks will bring new ideas to the firm, he says, adding that you “have to keep changing the way you do things.” Turning Thatcher into a proponent of dynamic analysis and testing was a hard sell at first, he recalls. There were old scars from misapplied dynamic testing in the past. Wysockey developed innovative testing hammers to bridge the gap, allowing dynamic testing to be easily applied in many situations. On paper, Wysockey and Bill Shea, VP of Morris-Shea Bridge Company are very similar. Both men lead foundation companies formerly headed up by powerful fathers, with their siblings — Shea is one of three sons, Wysockey, two. Both firms use design/build a lot. The difference is their respective regions; Morris-Shea is based in Alabama. The two met at a DFI meeting about 10 years ago and “keep in touch and exchange DEEP FOUNDATIONS • SEPT/OCT 2012 • 35
