Alexander Lyman Holley

Who was Alexander Lyman Holley?

Alexander Lyman Holley was a mechanical engineer and was considered the foremost steel and plant engineer and designer of his time, especially in regard to applying research to modern steel manufacturing processes. He received 15 patents, 10 for improvements in the Bessemer process, which he purchased the rights to in 1863 and brought to the United States. He soon designed and built Bessemer plants in Troy, New York, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He planned or was consulted on a dozen others. He chaired the first meeting of the founders of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the offices of the American Machinist on 16 February 1880, and is credited for establishing the intellectual boundaries of the mechanical engineering profession and ASME.