Duane Frederick Bruley

1933 - 2024

Duane Frederick Bruley of Ellicott City, Maryland passed quietly on Friday August 23, 2024, in the hearts of his three sons. Duane was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on August 3, 1933, to Casper S. Bruley and Hazel Marie Kuehn Bruley. He was a world-renowned scientist, researcher, professor, academic administrator, author, athlete, coach, outdoorsman, and most importantly a loving husband and father.

Dr. Bruley married his grade school friend/sweetheart and the love of his life in 1959. They raised three boys, lived an academic life, and traveled the world. A humble man whose closest friends, may not even know some of his accomplishments.

Duane's passion for academics and competitive athletics began in high school. He played football, tennis, and ran track at Chippewa Falls High School, and continued playing as quarterback for University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. He also played semi-pro football for the Chippewa Marines, under the alias "Duane Ackerman" due to collegiate regulations. Duane was also an avid snow (Gold Medal NASTAR 1987) and water skier.

Dr. Bruley's education was quite impressive, he achieved a BS in Chemical Engineering at University Wisconsin, then was selected to attend Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology (ORSORT) to receive a degree in Nuclear Engineering. Next, he was awarded an Atomic Energy Commission Scholarship to attend Stanford University to receive a MS degree in Mechanical Engineering and then concluded his education journey by receiving his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, while coaching the varsity tennis team.

After his educational pursuit, in 1963 Dr. Bruley joined the faculty of Clemson University, where he also served as Head Coach of the Clemson Tennis Team. During Dr. Bruley's career he also served as Head of the Chemical Engineering Department at Tulane University, as well as serving as Head Tennis Coach, Vice President of Academic Affairs at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, IN, Dean of Biomedical Engineering at Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA, Dean of Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, Head of Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Rehabilitation Engineering and Environmental Systems at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Dean of Engineering at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC).

In 1973 Dr. Bruley Co-Founded the International Society for Oxygen Transport to Tissue (ISOTT) and served as President in 1983. ISOTT is internationally recognized as an interdisciplinary society that represents essentially every major tissue oxygen research laboratory in the world. Its purpose is to further the understanding of all aspects of the processes involved in the oxygen transport from the air to its ultimate consumption in the cells of the various organs of the body.

Dr. Bruley throughout his career published over 180+ publications and was instrumental in the development of Protein-C in partnership with the American Red Cross due to a Family hereditary condition of Protein-C Deficiency (anticoagulation problems). Duane also developed the B-W-K (Bruley-Williford-Kang) technique, a probabilistic numerical technique used for mathematical modeling and computer simulations. Throughout Duane's career he worked with Cray Research (Seymour Cray) to implement B-W-K on the supercomputer to speed up the modeling and simulation processes.

As an athlete Dr. Bruley was a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) since 1964. As an exceptional coach he was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame in 2015, for his accomplishments as the head coach of the Tigers tennis team from 1963-1973. In 1969, he led the Tigers to their first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship, with a 16-0 season. Bruley had a 150-42 record and is the winningest coach at Clemson, in winning percentage, for all Tiger coaches with ten or more years' experience, regardless of sport. He holds the best win/loss record of any sport in Clemson History.

Duane was also an avid outdoorsman, growing up hunting and fishing the "North Woods" of Wisconsin, he always looked forward to the annual Thanksgiving hunting trips with his father, brother, sons, and nephew. Later in life Duane would be recognized in Ripley's Believe It or Not for "One Miracle Shot", killing a Fox and a Pheasant in one shot.

Duane is survived by his three sons Scott (Ellicott City, MD), Randall (Eileen) (Centreville, VA), and Mark (Leesburg, VA); and four grandchildren, Lena Maxell (Clayton), Jacob, Nicolette Sizemore (Michael), and Hunter; and two great-grandchildren, Nash and Zane Maxwell. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews, and their families. He was predeceased by his adoring wife of 61 years Suzanne (Bigler), his parents, and brother U.S. Navy Cmdr. Kenneth Bruley and sister in-law Carole Coleman Bruley.

A church service and interment will be held at a later date in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin where both Sue and Duane will be laid to rest.