Richard ENGELMANN

1923 - 2010

ENGELMANN Richard H. Engelmann, age 87, of Colerain Township, died on August 11, 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Richard Engelmann was Associate Dean Emeritus of Engineering and Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He was first appointed to the faculty in 1948 as an instructor in electrical engineering, and was promoted through the professorial ranks, reaching professorship in 1961. He was born January 6, 1923 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was a graduate of Mt. Healthy High School in 1940 and the United States Naval Academy in 1944, standing first in his class at both institutions. He served in the U. S. Navy destroyer fleet (the U.S.S. Ericsson during World War II and later in the U.S.S. Cone) until leaving the Navy in 1947. He entered the University of Cincinnati in 1947, and earned the master's degree in 1949. He was recalled to active duty in 1951, serving first on the staff of the Commander of the Cruiser-Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, and later as operations officer and gunnery officer in the U.S.S. Douglas H. Fox in Korean waters until mid-1952. During 1963-64, Professor Engelmann and his family were at Bengal Engineering College, Howrah, Calcutta, India, where he served as Guest Professor under the auspices of the U. S. Agency for International Development. Professor Engelmann returned to India for the summer of 1965 to lead a three-man team of American consultants which conducted summer institutes on teaching methods in engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, and at Birla Institute of Technology in Ranchi, Bihar. Professor Engelmann was Head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering from 1967 to 1979. In 1981 he was elected Faculty Representative to the University's Board of Trustees, but was not able to serve because he was appointed immediately thereafter as Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research in the College of Engineering, a post he held until the end of 1986. In that position, he led the development of a joint master's degree program with General Electric Aircraft Engine Group, Evendale, Ohio, the Advanced Course in Manufacturing. During his tenure of almost forty years at the University of Cincinnati, he served on many college and university committees and councils, including the Faculty Senate and the University Senate. While a member of the University Senate, he was twice elected as chairman, the only person ever to serve two full terms in that position. He served as a reviewer of contract proposals for the National Institute of Health from 1974 to 1980. In addition to being a consultant for a number of Cincinnati-based companies, he was also sought out as an expert in more than twenty-five legal actions, testifying as an expert witness in several cases. In other cases, his reports led to dismissals of defendants or to their removal from the case. He was a Life Member of the U.S. Naval Institute, of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and of the American Society for Engineering Education. He was an Honorary Member Ad Vitam of the Tesla Memorial Society. He was also a member of a number of honorary societies, including Tau Beta Pi (for which he was Faculty Advisor for twelve years), Eta Kappa Nu, and Texnikoi. He became Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Associate Dean Emeritus of Engineering in 1988. He was the author of a text on electric machinery, Static and Rotating Electromagnetic Devices, published in 1982. He was the principal editor of the Handbook of Electric Motors, published in 1995. He revised and expanded the text Design of Devices and Systems, published in 1997, a text originally written by one of his colleagues. His nonprofessional life centered on his family and his church. He was one of the founders of Christ Lutheran Church, Groesbeck, and later of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, Pleasant Run, being elected in each congregation at various times to the posts of president, treasurer, and elder. He also served on various other committees while a member of each congregation, and was the chairman of the Building Committee for the original building of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church. He was appointed in 1996 as a member of the Southeast Asia Administrative Committee of the Board for World Missions of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, and served on that committee until 2005. As a member of that committee, he had responsibility for liaison with the Indonesian field and made several visits to Indonesia and Southeast Asia during his term of service. Survivors include his wife, Doris, of Cincinnati, a son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Ramona Engelmann and grandson Daniel Engelmann, all of Richland, Washington, and a daughter and son-in-law, Karen and Edwin Gast of Farmington, Missouri, and grandchildren Brian Gast of Cincinnati, Julie Gast of Chicago, and Kevin Gast of Rochester, New York. He was preceded in death by his sisters, Dorothy Rau and Berthe Mae Weist, and by his brother, Carl Engelmann. Visitation will be from 5-8 PM on Monday, August 16 at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church, 11981 Pippin Road, Cincinnati, OH 45231. There will also be visitation at 9 AM followed by the funeral at 10 AM on Tuesday, both at the church. Memorials may be directed to the Beautiful Savior Lutheran School or to the Board for World Missions of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Church; in either case, memorials should be sent to Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church at the address above. Memorials may also be sent to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Foundation, 3333 Burnett Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45229.