Franklin Matthias

Franklin T. Matthias
Born	(1908-03-13)13 March 1908 Glidden, Wisconsin
Died	3 December 1993(1993-12-03) (aged 85) Walnut Creek, California
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1941–1946
Rank	Colonel
Commands held	Hanford Engineer Works
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Army Distinguished Service Medal
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin, Madison (BS, MS)

Franklin Thompson Matthias (13 March 1908 – 3 December 1993) was an American civil engineer who directed the construction of the Hanford nuclear site, a key facility of the Manhattan Project during World War II.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Matthias joined the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as a Junior Hydraulic Engineer in 1935 and worked on hydroelectric projects. In April 1941, he was called to active duty by the United States Army and joined the Construction Division of the Army Corps of Engineers. He was area engineer at the Manhattan Project's Hanford site from 1942 to 1945. As such, he supervised the enormous construction effort, which included three chemical separation plants so large that they were known as "Queen Marys", and the world's first three production-scale nuclear reactors.

After the war, Matthais went to Brazil, where he helped build a hydroelectric facility. He joined the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan) in 1951, and was involved in the construction of its Kemano-Kitimat hydroelectric dam and aluminum smelter project in northern British Columbia and the Chute-des-Passes project in Quebec. He was a vice president at Kaiser Engineering from 1960 to 1973.