.: Firm Overview and History

Thompson Engineers, Inc. has provided engineering services for the construction industry for over fifty years. Thompson Engineers’ work has always been characterized by exacting standards of design and strict adherence to the ethics of the engineering profession.

Professional engineers, graduate engineers, engineering designers and computer aided drafting technicians, all with a wealth of experience, provide a broad range of skills to meet your needs. The latest in computerized engineering and drafting technology is utilized on all of our projects to provide a top-quality end product.

Thompson Engineers, Inc. has professional engineers who are licensed in over twenty states, and registration is readily obtainable in other states. Resumes for our key design professionals are available here.
 
 

William B. “Bill” Thompson, Sr., PE, (pictured here c. 1990) left his position as the Chief Facility Engineer at the Firestone plant in Memphis, Tennessee and hung out his shingle as an electrical engineer in 1949. In the beginning, Mrs. Thompson worked as draftsman and secretary. William B. Thompson Consulting Engineers was originally located on historic Beale Street in downtown Memphis.

In 1952 Bill Thompson took in a partner, Mr. Pullen, a mechanical engineer. Thompson and Pullen Consulting Engineers added mechanical engineering to the firm’s electrical engineering practice. The partnership ended after only a year, but the mechanical engineering practice has been maintained up to the present time.
 
 

The current President of Thompson Engineers, Inc., Jerry Gatlin, joined the firm in March 1962. In June of 1962, Ron Thompson, PE, a former president of Thompson Engineers, Inc., began his full-time employment. Both of these gentlemen continue with the firm today.

There have been three generations of ownership of the firm. William B. Thompson Consulting Engineers was a sole proprietorship until 1987, when it was incoporated. The Thompson family and Jerry Gatlin continued to operate Thompson Engineers, Inc. until July 1999. Jeff Gatlin joined the firm’s mechanical engineering department in the spring of 1998, and Jerry Gatlin and Jeff Gatlin purchased Thompson Engineers, Inc. in July of 1999.
 
 

In September of 1999, Thompson Engineers, Inc. held a celebration to announce the third generation of ownership and to commemorate fifty years of continuous service to the building design and construction industries. The photo at right depicts the most two recent sets of principals of the firm – Bill and Ron Thompson in the rear and Jeff and Jerry Gatlin in front.

Thompson Engineers, Inc. has provided engineering services for numerous buildings throughout Memphis and the Mid-South that are now local landmarks. Notable among these are: White Station High School (1953), Second Presbyterian Church (1955), Don Russ Company (now Hershey) Candy Factory (1968), Shelby County Criminal Justice Center (1970), St. Francis Hospital (1971), Clark Tower (1971), the Federal Express Superhub (1984) and International Sort Module (1988) facilities, and the Peabody Place Mall (2001).