HIGHLIGHTS ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | SEPTEMBER 2026 67 IN MEMORIAM Alan A. Johnson, FASM, age 95, of Louisville, Kentucky, passed away on April 14. He was born on August 18, 1930, in Kent, England. In 1952, Reading University awarded him a B.Sc. in physics and later he received an M.A. in physics from the University of Toronto. Returning to England, he joined the Royal Naval Scientific Service as a scientific officer at the Admiralty Research Laboratory in Teddington, Middlesex. He received his Ph.D. in 1960 from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London and became a tenured lecturer in metallurgy. Johnson then accepted a position as director of research at the Materials Research Corp. in Orangeburg, New York, followed by a professorship and later department head at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. In 1969, he became a scientific adviser to the mayor of New York City, John Lindsay. In 1971, Johnson accepted a position as a department chairman at Washington State University in Pullman. He moved to the University of Louisville in 1975, serving as the graduate dean and a professor at large. Later he founded Metals Research Inc. He was a member of the ASM Louisville Chapter and the ASM Failure Analysis Society. Richard P. Simmons, FASM, originally of Sewickley, Pennsylvania, died on April 23 in his Palm Beach, Florida, home at age 94. He was a visionary metallurgist and leader in the American specialty steel industry. Born in Connecticut on May 3, 1931, Simmons attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he studied metallurgy. After he graduated from MIT in 1953, Simmons joined Allegheny Ludlum, where he was assigned to work on titanium manufacturing primarily for use in military aircraft. The venture would eventually grow into Titanium Metals Corp., one of the largest titanium producers in the world. He left Allegheny Ludlum for positions at Latrobe Steel Corp. and Republic Steel Corp. He returned to Allegheny Ludlum in 1968 as vice president for steel manufacturing, and four years later was named president. In 1980, he led his team and a group of investors in a leveraged buyout of Allegheny Ludlum—one of the largest leveraged buyouts completed up to that point. In 1996, Simmons directed the merger of Allegheny Ludlum and Teledyne Inc., creating Allegheny Technologies Inc., where he served as the new company’s chairman, president, and CEO until his retirement in 2000. The combined enterprise became a global leader in specialty materials. Simmons was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998 and was awarded honorary doctoral degrees by both Carnegie Mellon University and MIT. He was awarded ASM’s Medal for the Advancement of Research and ASM’s Distinguished Life Membership. He was a member of the ASM Pittsburgh Chapter. Robert “Bob” Earl Smallwood of Georgetown, Texas, died on June 11 at age 87. He was born in March 1939 in Washington, D.C. In 1956, Smallwood graduated from Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, as part of the inaugural graduating class. He attended William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he was in the ROTC program, graduating in 1961 with a B.S. in chemistry. He then attended Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, graduating in 1965 with a M.S. in chemistry focused on metallurgy. Post graduation, Smallwood served in the U.S. Army for two years of active duty and then completed 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserves achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. During his career, he authored a metallurgy integrity manual and was an editor of a technical publication for the American Society for Testing and Materials, where he was also presented with the Award of Merit in 1987. Simmons Smallwood Johnson IN MEMORIAM
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