John William Fisher (born February 15, 1931, in
Ancell, Missouri) is a professor emeritus of civil engineering.
Biography
John W. Fisher served from 1951 to 1953 in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he attained the rank of 2nd lieutenant. After graduating with a B.S. in civil engineering from
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
in 1956, he became a graduate student in civil engineering at
Lehigh University
Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...
, where he graduated in 1958 with an M.S. From 1958 to 1961 he worked as assistant bridge research engineer working for the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
in
Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the navigable Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The Illinois River is a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi Riv ...
at the facility of the
Road Test.
In 1961 he returned to Lehigh University as a research assistant and graduate student, graduating with a Ph.D. in 1964. He then joined the civil engineering faculty at Lehigh University as an associate professor and was promoted to full professor in 1969, retiring as professor emeritus in 2002.
[ He was Lehigh University's Joseph T. Stuart Professor of Engineerg for almost twenty years. In 1986 he was the founding director of Lehigh University's Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems (ATLSS) Center.][
He was elected in 1986 a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He was named in 1987 "Construction Man of the Year" by '']Engineering News Record
''Engineering News-Record'' (widely known as ''ENR'') is an American weekly magazine that provides news, analysis, data and opinion for the construction industry worldwide. It is widely regarded as one of the construction industry's most authorita ...
'' (ENR). He received in 1988 an honorary doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
*Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
*Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss International ...
.[ He was awarded in 1992 the ]Franklin Institute
The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...
's Frank P. Brown Medal[ for "forensic engineering and fatigue of materials."
In 2000 he received both the Roy W. Crum Award from the ]Transportation Research Board
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is a division of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, formerly the National Research Council of the United States, which serves as an independent adviser to the President of the Unite ...
[ and the ]John Fritz Medal
The John Fritz Medal has been awarded annually since 1902 by the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) for "outstanding scientific or industrial achievements". The medal was created for the 80th birthday of John Fritz, who lived betw ...
[ from the ]American Association of Engineering Societies
The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is an umbrella organization of engineering societies in the US, founded by a group of 43 societies in 1979. After several disputes, and a change in focus in the mid-1980s from speaking for t ...
. From 2001 to 2002 he served on a FEMA
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
panel of national experts that investigated the collapse of the World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
following the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
.[ In 2020 he received the ]IABSE
The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is a non-profit organisation with mission to promote the exchange of knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profess ...
's Award of Merit.Scott County, Missouri
Scott County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,059. Its county seat is Benton. The county was organized in 1821 and named for U.S. Representative John S ...
, he married Nelda Rae Adams (born 1933). There are four children from the marriage.[
]
Selected publications
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, John W.
1931 births
Living people
American civil engineers
American bridge engineers
Washington University in St. Louis alumni
Lehigh University alumni
Lehigh University faculty
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering