Clyde E. Lee

Clyde E. Lee died on Thursday October 19, 2023, at 5:30 pm at the age of 94 years and 17 days at his apartment at Longhorn Village Retirement Community in Austin, TX. He was born October 2, 1929, on Heathman Plantation, Sunflower County, Mississippi, to Gabe E. Lee and Lela Ponder Lee. Clyde grew up and graduated from high school (1947) in Indianola, MS. He earned Bachelor of Science (1952) and Master of Science (1956) degrees at Mississippi State College and the Doctor of Engineering (1962) degree at The University of California at Berkeley. He served on active duty in the U. S. Army (Artillery) 1951-1953. He joined the faculty of the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin in February 1959 as an Assistant Professor.

During his 40-year career at The University of Texas at Austin, Clyde was responsible for growing and developing the transportation engineering program into one of the highest rated programs of its kind in the United States. He was also founded and was the first director of the Center for Highway Research, now the Center for Transportation Research. His research activities included pioneering work in the development and application of highway Weigh-in-Motion (WIM) systems, simulation of traffic control and vehicular flow at intersections, automated traffic data collection and analysis, and traffic monitoring for pavement and bridge research. In 1984, Clyde was appointed the Nasser I Al-Rashid Centennial Endowed Professor in Transportation Engineering and at retirement in 1999 Clyde was also appointed a Professor Emeritus. Clyde was awarded United States Patent No. 32665584 on August 16, 1966, entitled “Vehicle Weighing Scale with Overlapped Load Bearing Plates.” Clyde received 20 Honors and Awards; was a member of 8 Professional and Honorary Societies; authored or coauthored 25 Refereed Journal Publications, 21 Refereed Conference Proceedings, and 66 Technical Reports; made 144 Oral Presentations; was awarded 1 Patent and 1 Copyrighted Software; participated in or led 76 Grants and Contracts totaling $11,086,708; and supervised 9 Ph.D., 56 M.S., and 2 M.S. in Progress students. Professor Lee was an excellent and interesting teacher to many thousands of Civil Engineering students and will be fondly remembered by all his students.

Clyde was a Registered Professional Civil Engineer (PE) in Mississippi and Texas and an active member of several professional organizations, including the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS); American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE); Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE); American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA); Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists (AAPT); and International Society for Weigh-In-Motion (ISWIM).

On May 22, 1972, Clyde married Mary McGraw Beard and they began a special 46-year life together. They were active members of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin and charter members (2008) of Austin Baptist Church. He was a member of the Board of Deacons at both churches. Clyde and Mary had opportunities to travel extensively including two around-the-world trips.

Clyde was predeceased by his parents, his only-sibling sister Martha Jean Lee Byrd and her husband William E. Byrd of Yazoo City, MS, and by his beloved wife Mary McGraw Lee of Austin, TX (May 22, 2018). Clyde was survived by his stepson Mark Stephen Beard and his wife Alyce of Waco, TX, and their daughter Stephanie A. Beard of Austin, TX, and by his stepson Larry Rheinhardt Beard of Austin, TX, Larry’s son Jarrod Lee Beard and his wife Maria, and their sons James Anthony Beard and Jacob Lee Beard and daughter Madeleine Rose of Kingwood, Texas.

Clyde requested that his funeral service for family and friends be at the Austin Memorial Park Cemetery: 2800 Hancock Drive, Austin, Texas 78731, and that, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be made to Austin Baptist Church, 7016 Ribelin Ranch Drive; Austin, Texas, 78750 (General Funds) or to a charity of choice.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.wcfishnorth.com for the Lee family.