Found on the web: No engineers died today

“Reading the obituaries recently in The New York Times, I had to conclude – no engineers died today! … looking back through a week’s editions of the Times, no deaths were noted for engineers of any caliber. And I happen to know at least one prominent New York City engineer who died recently.

“So who was considered worthy of an obituary this week? A radio sound effects man, a big band singer, a nurse, a writer, a surgeon, two baseball players, an illustrator, a clothes designer, a costume designer, a corporate president, a TV personality, a shoe designer, a restaurant owner, a country song writer, a producer, and a physicist. There were quite a number of people from all walks of life, it seemed, but no engineers.

“Could it be no one notices engineers in life or death, even though the infrastructure that makes life work for all the other people whose deaths were recorded by the Times was planned, designed, built, maintained, and rehabilitated by engineers?”

Andrew W. Herrmann, P.E., F.ASCE, “Are we really the Rodney ‘No Respect’ Danerfield of Professions?, President’s Blog, American Society of Civil Engineers, posted November 22, 2011.