DONOR Stanley Merjan, P.E., D.GE (1928-2019) Stanley Merjan, P.E., D.GE, is a revered figure in civil engineering circles, having revolutionized pile driving in New York City in the 1970s with his patented TPT (tapered pile tip) system. He worked for a total of 64 years in the civil engineering field starting in 1955, and spent an un- precedented 58 of those years at Under- pinning and Foundation (now a subsidiary of Skanska). Merjan, who also spent the last 4 years of his glorious career working for Soil Solutions, inspired and mentored young engineers throughout the construction industry. He was a member of numerous associations, but his proudest affiliation was DFI, with whom he was a charter member and served on the Board of Trustees. Among his many achievements, two that he was most proud of were being recognized by DFI and the DFI Educational Trust with a scholarship in his honor, founded in 2010, and receiving the DFI Distinguished Service Award in 2001. The Stanley Merjan CCNY (City College of New York) Civil Engineer- ing Scholarship Fund has, since inception, given a total of $90,000 in scholarships to 37 recipients of this prestigious award. David Coleman, with Underpinning and Foundation Skanska and emeritus trustee of the DFI Educational Trust, led the Merjan scholarship drive to raise an endowment of $200,000 for the fund in order to provide undergraduate civil engineering students with scholarships. Merjan, who passed away in 2019, made a substantial personal contribution to kick off this endowed fund, and the endowment goal was met in November 2014. Merjan was born in the Bronx in 1928. By the time he was 20, he had graduated with distinction from CCNY with a civil engineering degree. As an officer in the U.S. Army stationed in New London, Connec- ticut, he worked on engineering the first nuclear submarine. It was at this time that AUTHOR David Merjan DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2020 • 65 PROFILE Stanley Merjan (far right) with CCNY scholarship recipients in 2015 he met his beloved wife, Florence, who was working in New London for the Navy. They were happily married for 55 years until her passing in 2009. After leaving the Army in 1955, he worked for several firms before starting with Underpinning in 1958. The unique soil/bedrock conditions in the New York area got him thinking that there had to be a more efficient way to drive piles. In the late 1960s, he started developing his idea for a pile that could be driven to a much shorter depth and could condense the soil around it. After countless hours of work and multiple trips by Florence to the patent office in Washington, D.C., he was awarded his first patent in 1971 for the TPT. He went on to be awarded a total of 19 patents during his distinguished career, including 12 for high-capacity driven piles. Merjan had many other interests. He was a long-time board member of the Community Synagogue in Sands Point, New York. He served several years as a board member of the Sands Point Preserve, and was instrumental in revamping the preserve, turning it into a major attraction on the North Shore of Long Island. He was also a long-time active member of The Moles, a fraternal organization of the construction industry. Among Merjan’s other honors was being named ORT America’s New York City Engineer of the Year in 1992. Additionally, he was inducted into the Academy of Geo- Professionals as a Diplomate, Geotechnical Engineering (D.GE). Merjan was a devoted father and grandfather. He had three children, Barbara, David and Alice, and four grandchildren, Jake, Julia, Alexandra and Olivia. The last 6 years of his life were also made quite joyous by his companion, Harriet Englander. Stanley Merjan CCNY Civil Engineering Scholarships are awarded annually from the earnings of the fund at a minimum of $10,000 per year. Recipients must demon- strate a financial need and demonstrate an interest in the deep foundation industry via civil or geotechnical engineering. Annually, the student recipients are recognized at the DFI Educational Trust Annual Gala Dinner held in November in the New York/New Jersey area. Learn more or donate at dfi.org/trust/scholarships.asp?merjan.
