Danny Lee Fread

Fread had one daughter, Kristin with Helen Hale Fread in 1962. After his retirement, he and his wife moved to Pennsylvania to be near their daughter and family. He died on February 5, 2009, in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, at the age of 70, and was buried there.

After completing his undergraduate degree, Danny Fread worked six years for Texaco, where he was promoted to Senior Engineer, specializing in the design of gravity and pressurized piping systems. He then returned to University of Missouri-Rolla to complete his Ph.D. in civil engineering in 1971. His studies focused on hydraulics / hydrology / mathematics, and his research was centered on unsteady flow and numerical / experimental simulation of breached dams. After earning his degree, he became a research hydrologist with the National Weather Service, where he spent 29 years. Inspired by the tragedy of the failure of the Grand Teton Dam in 1976, he undertook research on the development of computer models to forecast the flow of flooding rivers and dam failures. His 1973 ASCE paper presented a conceptual model to alleviate flood damages due to overtopping failures of small earthfill dams. It discussed erosion patterns and the potential reduction in the reservoir release due base on a proposed erosion retarding layer.

Danny Lee Fread (July 17, 1939 - February 5, 2009) was an American hydraulic engineer and Senior Research Hydrologist, best known for his computer-based mathematical simulation programs for rainfall and runoff to forecast the flow of flooding rivers and dam failures.

Danny Fread was born on July 17, 1939 in Tuscola, IL, the son of Harold and Margaret E. Dyer Fread. Danny graduated from Lovington High School, in Lovington, Illinois. He began his undergraduate studies at Carthage College, in Carthage, IL, where he studied liberal arts and excelled in track and field as well as basketball. Danny set a school record for his javelin throw in 1959 and was reputedly the "team's best pole vaulter." and lettered in basketball, where he was known for his "deadly jump shot." Fread then transferred to the University of Missouri-Rolla, in Rolla, Missouri and received his B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1961. He ranked first in his graduating class.