Prof William Fisher Cassie (usually referred to simply as Fisher Cassie in his field and as Bill Cassie by his friends)

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

CBE LLD (1905 – 1985) was a British civil engineer and academic. He was a noteworthy author on building structure. He was an expert on soil mechanics and a strong advocate of underground transport systems.

Life

He was born in Monifieth in Angus on 29 June 1905, the son of William Cassie. His early education was at the Grove Academy in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. He then studied engineering at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1925. He continued as a postgraduate, earning a PhD in 1930 before spending a year in the USA in Illinois. From 1943 until 1970, he was Professor of Civil Engineering at

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

. In 1965, he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Council on Road Research under Prof F.E.Jones.

Dundee University , mottoeng = "My soul doth magnify the Lord" , established = 1967 – gained independent university status by Royal Charter1897 – Constituent college of the University of St Andrews1881 – University College , t ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1972 (LLD). Cassie was also a noted collector of the traditional dances of Northeast England and the Rapper Sword tradition in particular. He was instrumental in starting Newcastle Kingsmen Sword Team in 1949 who continue to be associated with Newcastle University. His archive of dance notations were gifted to the Morris Ring in his later life. He died on 20 April 1985.

Publications

*''The Torsional Stiffness of Structural Sections'' (1948) *''Structural Analysis'' (1954) *''Northumbria: A Selection of Photographs'' (1958) (foreword only) *''Structure in Building'' (1966) *''Fundamental Foundations'' (1968)

Family

He married Mary Robertson Reid in 1933. They had no children.

Recognition

The Cassie Building in Newcastle University is named after him. His portrait is held by the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassie, William Fisher 1905 births 1985 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British civil engineers People from Monifieth