The UC Berkeley Geotechnical family grieves the loss and celebrates the life of Clarence Chan, who passed away peacefully at his home in San Francisco, on August 7, 2021 at the age of 91, surrounded and supported by his remarkable family.  Clarence was a key contributor to the Geotechnical Engineering Program’s rise to prominence from the mid-1950s through his retirement from the University in 1992.   His friendly nature and quiet demeanor suited his role as a key member of research teams, out of the spotlight, but all those who worked with and learned from him consistently appreciated how essential his participation was on collaborative projects that involved testing of soils and rocks requiring new and specialized apparatus and procedures.

Clarence received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering from UC Berkeley in 1952 and 1954.  Following two years of active duty in the US Army, he returned to Berkeley as a Lecturer and Assistant Research Engineer in 1956.  For nearly forty years thereafter, he supported the research of generations of faculty and graduate students, providing creative solutions to challenges  at the frontiers of experimental geomechanics.  He combined a strong theoretical background and understanding of earth material behavior with a curiosity and appreciation of both available and emerging technologies that could be used to develop original testing systems, which he would often prototype himself with his skills as a craftsman and machinist.

Among his many successful projects, Clarence made major contributions to the understanding and characterization of  the structure and properties of compacted clay; the development and standardization of earthquake loading of soils; the design and oversight (as Director) of the 36” diameter, high pressure triaxial device at the Rockfill Test Facility; and the use of computers for control of laboratory testing – which culminated in his development (with Prof. X.S. Li) of the “Automated Triaxial Testing System” in the mid-1980s, which he continued to produce and refine over the years for more than a hundred laboratories worldwide. 

Even after retirement, Clarence remained connected to the Berkeley Geotechnical Engineering Program through service as a consultant on numerous projects and research programs.  Clarence Chan also remained very actively involved in a wide variety of other activities, often donating his time, talent and energy to a range of programs through his church and other community groups and organizing memorable family trips (very often involving hiking or skiing).   He was generous, thoughtful, and seemingly ageless, and we will miss him going forward with our work, and our lives.