During his highly decorated career as professor of civil engineering at Lehigh University, John W. Fisher made major advances in the field of structural steel engineering. Between 1969 and 2002, Fisher used his expertise in the structural integrity of steel to analyze nearly every major failure of large steel structures in the United States. His analyses resulted in improvements that would prevent similar failures from being repeated in the future.
In 1989, Fisher established the ATLSS, a National Science Foundation sponsored research center at Lehigh University focused on studying steel and other infrastructural building materials. Fisher, who has lived and worked in Bethlehem for the duration of his academic life, has received many of the most prestigious awards the engineering world has to offer. Fisher represents the latest installation in a long line of steel visionaries who found their home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
