Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

News From You, Fall 2005

Barry A. Bishop (BSCE 1950)
civilbb@aol.com

I graduated from Iowa State College in 1950 with a BS in civil engineering and upon graduation took a sales position with Caterpillar Tractor Company in Des Moines.

Uncle Sam then called and said "I WANT YOU," and I ended up in the engineering office of the post engineers at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

From there I went to work with Ralph Wallace in Mason City for three years as a civil engineer and surveyor of land.

My interest then switched to an assignment with the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Des Moines, Iowa, as their civil engineer.

My calling was still in the general field of civil engineering and land surveying, and in 1959, I opened a new consulting firm which I called Bishop Engineering Company, Inc.

At that time it had just one employee—very little work and very little money!

In 2000, at age 82, I decided that it was time to retire and turn what I believe to be a very successful business over to my son Charles J. Bishop, PE, who is a civil engineering graduate of ISU. Chuck is now president of the firm.

My other son, Peter Allan Bishop, PE, is also a civil engineering graduate of ISU, and he is vice president at Kimley-Horn and Associates in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Both sons worked at Bishop Engineering when in college.

Peter was the smarter of the two; he did not want to work for a "slave driver" father, and he headed south. Low and behold, he too found out that engineering is a 24/7 practice, and he too is doing better than his father ever did!

I have retired to the greater Phoenix area where I continue my interest in civil engineering serving on the boards of the Del E. Webb Memorial Hospital and the Boswell Hospital as their in-house civil engineer.

My education at ISC and the continuing education programs at ISU have made my 50 years in civil engineering and land surveying the best years of my life.

William H. Anderl (BSCE 1968, MSCE 1969)
Golden Valley, MN
263-529-5008, wha@sl-ser.com
I retired from the state health department after 31 years of service in environmental and public health programs. I work a part-time job at SL-SERCO providing safety services to local public works workers in Minnesota.

I am chair of the Minnesota Section of AWWA Safety Committee. Presently, I'm working on a construction safety manual for a local engineering firm. I would like to know more about construction engineering safety education courses.