Top Construction Award for John Fondahl '47
John W. Fondahl, '47, professor of engineering at Stanford University, is a recipient of a 1976 Golden Beaver Award, one of the top honors given each year by the construction industry.
In announcing his selection, the industry noted that he turns college students into potential construction leaders and that "his service to our industry is in supplying trained, dedicated minds."
A native of Washington, D.C., John received a scholarship to Worcester Polytechnic Institute but his studies were interrupted by service in the Marine Corps during World War II. In 1945 he returned to school at Dartmouth where he received a B.S. in 1947 and an M.S. in 1948, both in civil engineering, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude.
In 1946 he married his high school sweetheart. Doris-Jane recalls "My husband and I were among the first married couples living in married couples housing after World War II. We lived in South Fayerweather and had a wonderful time."
After graduation John worked for the American Bridge Co. in Ambridge, Pa., and subsequently accepted a faculty post at the University of Hawaii. After three years there, he decided he wanted additional practical experience. This led to associations with Winston Bros. Co. and later the Al Johnson Construction Co.
As project engineer for Winston Bros., of Minneapolis, he completed the Nimbus Dam and power plant in spite of floods that wiped out the cofferdams on three occasions. In 1955 he accepted an offer from Stanford to help initiate a graduate program in construction engineering and management. He has been a full professor since 1966.
In 1964 he visited the Aswan Dam project as part of a State Department team which presented a high-level construction conference for the United Arab Republic. Last year, John accepted an invitation from the Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors of South Africa to assist in initiating an engineering construction program in their universities. For the past 12 years he has presented annual short courses in cities in Canada, Peru, and Venequela.
His A Non-Computer Approach to theCritical Path Method is used world-wide, as are computer approaches concurrently developed by him.
He was recently named chairman of the board of the Project Management Institute, a professional society he had served as president for two years. A director of Scott Company of California, he is a fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers, author of numerous publications, and a contributor to the Handbook of Construction Management and Organization. He has been active in a variety of construction education groups and is a member of Sigma Xi.
The Fondahls live in Los Altos Hills, Calif., and have four daughters, one of whom, Gail, is a sophomore at Dartmouth.
