Stephen Davison Bechtel, Sr.

Stephen Davison Bechtel (September 24, 1900 – March 14, 1989) was the son of Clara Alice West and Warren A. Bechtel, founder of the Bechtel Corporation. He was the president of the company from 1933 to 1960.

Early life Stephen Davison Bechtel was born on September 24, 1900, in Aurora, Indiana, to Warren A. Bechtel. He grew up in construction camps, living with his father as he traveled to construction projects. He graduated from Oakland Technical High School in 1918, and served with the 20th Engineer Brigade, part of the American Expeditionary Force sent to assist France in World War I. In 1919, after the war, he attended the University of California, Berkeley for one year and left to work for his father's company full-time.

In 1923, Bechtel married Laura Adeline Peart, a Berkeley alumna, who would help her husband build the family-owned business into one of the world's largest engineering and construction firms.

In 1976, Bechtel received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement.

Death and legacy Stephen Bechtel died on March 14, 1989, at Merritt Peralta Medical Center in Oakland, California.

The undergraduate engineering center of the University of California, Berkeley was named the "Bechtel Engineering Center."

One of the buildings of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at the American University of Beirut (AUB) is named "The Bechtel Engineering Building" after its donor, Stephen Bechtel.