William Reynolds Gianelli (February 19, 1919 – March 30, 2020) was an American engineer and public servant. He was the 3rd

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), abbreviated ASA(CW), is an office of the United States Department of the Army responsible for overseeing the civil functions of the United States Army. The Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil ...

from 1981 to 1984, serving during the Ronald Reagan administration.

Early life

Gianelli was born in Stockton, California in February 1919.President Reagan's Nomination of Gianelli as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works)
/ref> He was educated at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, receiving a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in 1941.''Water Resources - An Interview with William R. Gianelli''
/ref> He then served in the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

from 1941 to 1945, in the midst of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In this capacity, he was involved in building airfields, water supply facilities, and other construction projects at installations in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

, Saipan,

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. By the end of the war, he had attained the rank of Major.

Early career

After the war, in January 1946, Gianelli took a job in the office of the State Engineer of California. After ten years in that job, he left for the

California Department of Water Resources The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is part of the California Natural Resources Agency and is responsible for the management and regulation of the State of California's water usage. The department was created in 1956 by Governor G ...

, becoming staff engineer and special assistant to the director. In 1959, he became district engineer for the CDWR's southern district. In 1960, Gianelli left government service and formed a consulting engineering firm, Gianelli & Murray.

Government career

In January 1967, Governor of California Ronald Reagan appointed Gianelli as head of the

. In that capacity, he oversaw the development of the

California State Water Project The California State Water Project, commonly known as the SWP, is a state water management project in the U.S. state of California under the supervision of the California Department of Water Resources. The SWP is one of the largest public wate ...

. Gianelli again left government service in 1973, becoming a consulting engineer. From 1973 to 1976, he served on the National Commission on Water Quality appointed by

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

and chaired by Nelson Rockefeller. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Gianelli as

, and, after

Senate Confirmation Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something prev ...

, he held this office from April 1981 until May 1984. He was chairman of the

Panama Canal Commission The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terri ...

, the last four years under special Congressional Authorization.Profile from the Department of the Army
/ref>

Later life

Gianelli continued to work as a consultant after leaving government service in 1984. In 1997, h
joined
Dawson & Associates as an advisor on environmental permitting. He served there for more than a decade. Gianelli was president of th
Water Education Foundation
based in Sacramento, Calif., from 1985-1989. He made a major financial donation that helped the Foundation create an educational program for young professionals, which is named th
William R. “Bill” Gianelli Water Leaders Class

References

External links

William R. Gianelli : The California State Department of Water Resources, 1967-1973
/ an interview conducted by Malca Chall in 1985. Berkeley, Calif. : Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft Library, University of California, 1986 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gianelli, William 1919 births 2020 deaths American centenarians Men centenarians Reagan administration personnel United States Army officers Burials at Arlington National Cemetery United States Army personnel of World War II University of California, Berkeley alumni