author

Wm. (William) Cain

1847–1930

A pioneering Southern engineer and teacher, he helped shape civil engineering in North Carolina and beyond through decades of scholarship, teaching, and practical work. His writing connected mathematics to real-world structures like dams, arches, and retaining walls.

1 Audiobook

Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXXII, June, 1911 : Experiments on retaining walls and pressures on tunnels

Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. LXXII, June, 1911 : Experiments on retaining walls and pressures on tunnels

by Wm. (William) Cain

About the author

William Cain was a civil engineer, mathematician, professor, and author born near Hillsborough, North Carolina, on May 14, 1847. After early schooling in Hillsborough and study at the Hillsborough Military Academy, he worked with state geologist W. C. Kerr and later spent years as a railroad engineer and surveyor in North and South Carolina.

He also built a long teaching career. Cain taught mathematics and engineering at the Carolina Military Institute in Charlotte and at the Citadel in Charleston before joining the University of North Carolina in 1888. He led the department there until retiring in 1920, and in 1918 he was named one of the university's original Kenan professors.

Cain was known for original work in both pure and applied mathematics, especially in structural and civil engineering. Sources describe him as one of the South's notable engineers, with important work on masonry dams, reinforced concrete arches, earth pressure, and retaining walls. He died on December 7, 1930.