About Shannon & Wilson
Collaboration, science, and progress
Shannon & Wilson is an employee-owned consulting firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Committed to technical excellence and high-quality service, we provide integrated geotechnical engineering, engineering geology, environmental, and natural resource services for clients worldwide. Since 1954, we have delivered comprehensive engineering and environmental solutions for the most challenging infrastructure planning, design, permitting, and construction conditions.
We are dedicated to improving our communities, preserving the environment, and utilizing the most innovative science practices in all our work.
Our history
Shannon & Wilson was founded in 1954 as a partnership between William L. Shannon and Stanley D. Wilson.
The two met at Harvard University, where Stan was a graduate student and Bill the director of a major research project. It was an exciting time to be at Harvard. A revolution in civil engineering was underway, and radically new concepts were taking shape in soil and rock mechanics under the direction of Professor Arthur Casagrande, a leading figure in geotechnical engineering. He and his colleagues were in the vanguard of a newly evolving discipline, establishing many of the early principles of what later came to be known as geotechnical engineering.
Bill and Stan's innovations continued in the years immediately after founding Shannon & Wilson. As a young company, they made important advancements in instrumentation, soil and rock mechanics, landslide stabilization, and earthquake engineering. As a result of this work, both are recognized throughout the world as pioneers in their field.
The company Bill and Stan founded has grown to more than 300 employees in 14 offices nationwide. We are structured such that we combine local knowledge with national expertise to deliver technical excellence, innovation, service, and value to our clients on each and every project. The high standard of quality Bill and Stan established remain the cornerstone of Shannon & Wilson's business philosophy today.
We at Shannon & Wilson are proud of our company's history and of the important contributions Bill and Stan made to the field of geotechnical engineering. In recognition of their achievements, each year Shannon & Wilson sponsors the Stanley D. Wilson Memorial Lecture at the University of Washington, the Stanley D. Wilson Fellowship at the University of Illinois, and the William L. Shannon Fellowship at the University of Washington.
