Noted metallurgist Joseph W. Richards played a major role in transforming aluminum from an exotic luxury to an everyday necessity. A member of the Class of 1886, his senior thesis described the chemistry necessary to make aluminum’s use practical. After getting his master’s here in 1891, he became the first Lehigh student to earn a Ph.D. (1893); he wrote his thesis on copper.

Richards spent almost his entire career at Lehigh, teaching metallurgy, mineralogy and blow-piping, and chairing the metallurgy department. He advocated for aluminum as the metal of the future when it was still expensive and difficult to mine. His first book, Aluminum: Its History, Occurrences, Properties, Metallurgy and Applications, Including Alloys, was published in 1887 and twice revised. A later book, Metallurgical Calculations, was translated into Italian, German and French. His students became leaders in aluminum research.