Sir Alec Westley Skempton was an English civil engineer and Professor of Soil Mechanics at Imperial College London. He is often referred to as one of the founding fathers of soil mechanics in the UK and around the world. Skempton established the soil mechanics course at Imperial College London and was one of the most important engineers of the 20th century.

Peck, PhD in civil engineering from the RPI, was one of the major contributors to the development of geotechnics in the twentieth century. He arrived at Harvard University in 1938 to attend the soil mechanics courses taught by Arthur Casagrande, which guided Peck’s professional career towards geotechnics. Peck dedicated himself to consulting and research work and was a committed lecturer at the University of Illinois, where he was a professor for 32 years.