Herbert Sinclair Fairbank photograph collection

Herbert Sinclair Fairbank (1888-1962) worked for 45 years in the Office of Public Roads of the United States Government, serving as Deputy Commissioner for Research from 1943 until his retirement in 1955 He was the son of C. Alexander and Sarah Sinclair Fairbank, and a 1910 graduate of Cornell University.

Early in his career, Fairbank edited Public Roads Magazine in the old Information Section of the Office of Public Roads. He was the original manager of the Highway Planning Surveys mandated by Congress in 1935, authored many reports on highway topics to Congress, and represented the U. S. Government at foreign meetings and assignments.

In 1958, he received the first Thomas H. MacDonald Award, presented by the American Association of State Highway Officials. The address by D.C. Greer honoring Fairbank on that occasion cited his "many contributions to the advancement of the art and science of road building and of highway administration and finance", as well as his "breadth of vision, height of competence, honesty of purpose, warmth of character, and generosity of counsel that assure forever his eminent place in the history of highway transportation in America".