Lehigh University welding metallurgy program (1940s–1970s)

Origin story for the metallurgical bias in American welding education — "if the only tool you have is a hammer." Tom names Bob Stout, *Stout & Doty Weldability of Steels* (1940s), and the migration of Lehigh graduates to US Steel for HY steel development. Returns at §6.p4 to discuss Karl Meyer's reheat-cracking thesis.

Why do people think they can solve all welding problems with metallurgy? Because historically, education of welders in this country started big-time at Lehigh University in the 1940s. Bob Stout was dean of the graduate school — Stout and Doty wrote Weldability of Steels in the 1940s. That was a big place doing welding research. Some of those guys went out of Lehigh to US Steel and they developed all the HY steels in the 50s and 60s with Navy money — those high-strength submarine steels — and they had to be weldable because they were going to make submarines out of it. But Lehigh didn't keep their faculty current in that area. They had Al Pense, who's still around, but he rose to become provost of the university. Once you get to the administrative levels, you stop minding the store at the lower levels.