Lynn Simpson Beedle was born in Orland, California on December 7, 1917 and died in Hellertown, Pennsylvania October 30, 2003. He was a well-known structural engineer, founder and director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. During his student days at the University of California, Berkeley, he participated in the opening ceremonies of the Golden Gate Bridge. He graduated in 1941 with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and joined the U.S. Navy. During his service in the Navy, he worked at the Naval Research Facility at Virginia Beach, subsequently participated in Operations Crossroads, witnessing the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1946. He had risen to the rank of Lt. Commander. In 1947 he joined Lehigh University as instructor and graduate student. In 1949 he was awarded a master’s degree and in 1952 his PhD degree from Lehigh. He served as associate director under Bruce Johnston from 1952 and then became director of Fritz Engineering Laboratory in 1960. He achieved full professor status in 1957. During his early days at Lehigh he participated in structural stability research with Bruce G. Johnston, founder of the Column Research Council. The Column Research Council was organized at Fritz Engineering Laboratory in 1944, after the collapse of the Quebec Bridge during construction, to develop knowledge about behavior and strength of compression members and establish structural stability design criteria. In 1972 the CRC changed its name to Structural Stability Research Council. Dr. Beedle followed Bruce Johnston as director of CRC/SSRC serving in that capacity from 1970-1993. For a short time, Beedle also served as head of the Civil Engineering Department until a replacement for Professor William J. Eney was found in Dr. David A. Van Horn. In 1969, Beedle created what eventually became known as the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat to establish design criteria for skyscrapers. In 1972, Beedle was the first Lehigh faculty to be elected to the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to steel structure research and design practice especially in plastic design and residual stress effects. In 1978, Lehigh named him Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering. In 1982, he received the Franklin Institute award and in 1995 the John Fritz Medal from the American Association of Engineering Societies. In 2002 the Council of Tall Buildings honored him by creating the Lynn S. Beedle Achievement Award, as did the Structural Stability Research Council which also created an award in his name. He also received a lifetime achievement in civil engineering award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.