Colby, Albert Ladd, 1860-

Albert Ladd Colby was born in New York, in June 26, 1860. In 1881, he graduated from Columbia University School of Mines as chemist and metallurgist. He worked at Lehigh University, from 1883 to 1886, as an instructor in Chemistry. From 1886 to 1903, he worked for Bethlehem Steel Company, South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, first as chief chemist and then metallurgical engineer. From 1903-05, he worked for International Nickel Company. After 1905, he became an independent consulting engineer and consulted many American steel companies and some foreign companies. 1897-1905 he was the secretary of the Association of American Steel Manufacturers. He had many publications, among them American Standard Specifications for Steel, 1902, has been the most important. A. L. Colby died in 1924.

On January 15, 1919, Purity Distilling Company's 50 ft. high and 90 ft. in diameter molasses tank exploded, in Boston, Massachusetts. 21 people died and over 50 people injured, and significant property damage occurred. Purity Distilling Company and the parent company United States Alcohol Company paid over 1 million dollars after 125 lawsuits filed against them. The hearing of the trial was the longest in the history of Massachusetts Courts. Consulting engineer Albert Ladd Colby was hired as an "Expert for the Defendant" to give an expert report on behalf of the defense team and a testimony in the court explaining "what caused the explosion". Albert Ladd Colby's tests are conducted in Lehigh University Fritz Engineering Laboratory. The collection contains reports based on these tests.