A message from AISC President, Charlie Carter

From left to right: James Fisher, Ted Galambos, John Fisher

AISC’s corps of volunteers has always been a special group. It’s been a privilege for me that all of my roles as a member of the staff, starting as Staff Engineer and continuing through my current role as President, have involved working closely with so many great people to develop meaningful ideas and solve real problems. I can tell you there’s no better opportunity to learn than working with groups of people who have lived the successes and failures of their experiences and want to work together to help everyone else in our profession and industry.

I could spend the rest of my life writing about what I’ve personally seen people contribute and not be able to cover it all, no matter how long I live. That’s both inspiring and frighteningly awesome as I think about it. And it also makes me reminisce about a very special milestone reached recently by two of those people: Ted Galambos and John Fisher both recently celebrated their 90th birthdays.

Ted’s celebration was in 2019 and became a great opportunity for his colleagues at the University of Minnesota to host a collection of us to mark the occasion. It was a wonderful gathering where everyone who could attend carried with them the thoughts, esteem, and appreciation of everyone who couldn’t. Those absent sent messages that complemented the words shared by a few presenters in a touching ceremony. Appreciation flowed from former students who spoke of positive influences, university and professional colleagues who shared stories of sage advice and wise counsel, and everyone who joined family and friends to add the love and friendship that punctuated the entire event.

A short while later, we celebrated further at a meeting of the AISC Committee on Specifications. This news item and accompanying press release will give you a keen look into many highlights of Ted’s 63 years of service.

John’s celebration happened earlier this year. Yes, as you can imagine, it was different out of necessity--but the warmth remained unchanged. Even the restrictions of the pandemic couldn’t stand in the way. Indeed, the special challenge of the limits seemed to motivate the group that set about creating a way to celebrate. A book became the stand-in for a party and it did not disappoint. Full of memories, tales, photos, and mementos of that same deep appreciation of students and colleagues at Lehigh University and in AISC and other professional circles, it also arrived in John’s hands as a complete surprise, which only increased its measure.

I foresee we’ll have a further celebration of John in the near future as a part of our return to in-person meetings. In the meantime, I recommend John’s appearance on AISC’s Steel Profiles podcast -- it’s episode 22 (and here’s a bonus: Ted was in episode 10).

How lucky are we all that these two nonagenarians have given so much of their lives to the betterment of society, our profession, our industry, and our Institute! Ted and John are shining examples of the meaning and value of sharing time, wisdom, experience, and expertise.

Their lives began almost as far back as the beginning of AISC and they’ve been involved with AISC for the majority of our 100 years. So fitting it is, then, to celebrate them with special distinction as we celebrate a century of AISC.

May we all follow their lead and carry forward the spirit, achievement, and example they’ve set for so long.