Othmar Hermann Ammann was a Swiss-American structural engineer whose bridge designs include the George Washington Bridge, Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and Bayonne Bridge. He also directed the planning and construction of New York City's Lincoln Tunnel. He was born on March 26, 1879 in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. After graduating from Cornell University in 1915, Charles Whitney founded a successful consulting engineering practice in Milwaukee, WI. Services were provided in the planning, design and construction supervision of structures and municipal projects including bridges, highways, buildings and special structures. Whitney was well known for the development of the plastic theory and ultimate strength methods of reinforced concrete design, and long-span, thin-shell structures. In 1904 Ammann immigrated to the United States, where he helped design railroad bridges. Joining the Pennsylvania Steel Company the following year, he worked on the Queensboro Bridge, New York City. During his term (1912–23) as chief assistant to the noted bridge engineer Gustav Lindenthal, he helped design and build the Hell Gate Bridge, New York City, and the Ohio River Bridge, Sciotoville, Ohio.  Through his career, Ammann was the recipient of several awards, including the Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize (1919), the Metropolitan Section Civil Engineer of the Year (1958), the Ernest E. Howard Award (1960) and the National Medal of Science (1964).