Donald Sherman, professor emerit, civil & environmental engineering, passed on March 26, 2025, at the age of 89.
Sherman had a distinguished career at UWM just over 30 years and was a renowned structural engineering figure in the steel industry. He was one of the primary contributors to the code and standard for design of steel structures used in the U.S. and many other countries and always had spec book of the American Institute of Steel Construction at the ready.
Sherman received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, Ohio, and his PhD in structural engineering from the University of Illinois. He retired from UWM in 1997.
Al Ghorbanpoor, UWM professor emerit, civil engineering, remembers Sherman as a mentor and personal friend, as well as a talented engineer.
“Don was a great teacher, mentor and scholar,” Ghorbanpoor said. “He was admired greatly by his students and colleagues for his scholarly contribution, friendship and – more importantly – for his high character and integrity. He collaborated extensively with many prominent professors from the U.S. and international universities in his field of expertise.”
A celebration of his life is on Saturday afternoon, April 5. Contact deborah.vonduhn@gmail.com for details. If you’d like to donate to UWM’s civil engineering General Fund in Sherman’s memory, please do so at uwmfoundation.org/sherman.