In 1961 searching for a new structures appointment at Princeton, I phoned Chester Siess for his best student. He responded “Fazlur Khan” so I called him but he preferred design to teaching. In the late 1960’s two submitted papers of mine on aesthetics of structures were harshly critiqued and turned down. I later learned that the critic was Fazlur Khan (he was correct in his review). Finally in 1971 I met him and invited him to Princeton where he lectured on April 11, 1972. He told me of his deep interest in Robert Maillart’s structures and agreed to write a paper comparing Maillart’s bridges to his own buildings for our Maillart conference. Khan’s elegant presentation together with those of Christian Menn and Felix Candela convinced me of a tradition in structural art.

Khan returned to Princeton several more times, one of those being only a few weeks before he died. This presentation will present such personal and professional recollections of Fazlur Khan, who became a good friend and colleague of mine through these experiences and others that I will share. I will also reflect on the influence Khan had on others as discussed in a memorial session that Myron Goldsmith and I organized at the ASCE October 1983 convention in Houston (which led us to edit a book devoted to Khan and published by the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat at Lehigh in 1986).