Henry Lee Kinnier

Henry Lee Kinnier

Henry Lee Kinnier, Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at the University of Virginia, died Wednesday, May 6, 2009, at his home. Mr. Kinnier was devoted to his family, his friends, his church and the University of Virginia throughout his life.

He was born December 8, 1915, in Lynchburg, Virginia, the son of the late Clarence Lee Kinnier and Gale Watterson Kinnier.

He was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Frances Williams Kinnier, his son, Henry Lee Kinnier Jr. and his brother, John Tanner Kinnier II of Williamsburg.

He is survived by two daughters, Anne Kinnier Driscoll and her husband, Irving, Elizabeth Kinnier Hiles, and one grandson, Irving Sears Driscoll III, all of Richmond; four granddaughters, Sarah Driscoll Huitt and her husband, Adam, of Charlotte, North Carolina, Frances Elizabeth Hiles, Laura Watterson Hiles and Victoria Kinnier Hiles, all of Charleston, South Carolina; two great-grandchildren, Caroline Addison Huitt and James Hamilton Huitt; two nieces, Gale Kinnier Martin and Emily Randolph Harrison Kinnier; and one nephew, John Tanner Kinnier III.

Mr. Kinnier received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the Univer-sity of Virginia in 1942, and a graduate degree in structural engineering from the University of Michigan. Upon being commissioned in July 1942, as an Ensign in the United States Navy at the beginning of World War II, he was assigned to a Naval Architecture program at M.I.T. He completed his three and a half year Naval service as a Lieutenant with tours of duty as a dry-docking officer at the Norfolk Navy Yard and later as an Officer-in-Charge of Floating Pontoon Drydocks at Subic Bay, Luzon, Philippines.

After a short period as a highway bridge designer with the Virginia Department of Transportation, he joined the University of Virginia Civil Engineering faculty in 1946, a position he held until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 1984. He was active with the Virginia Engineering Foundation serving as Secretary and later was elected as a Lifetime Member of the Board of Trustees.

During his tenure on the faculty, he received a number of awards including the Raven Award, the IMP Faculty Award, the Mac Wade Award, the University of Virginia Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award and the Virginia Engineering Foundation Distinguished Service Award. He was a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Throughout his career, Mr. Kinnier was active in promoting the standards of professional engineering and was appointed by Governors Almond and Harrison to five-year terms on the State Board of Engineering Examiners. He received the Virginia Society of Professional Engineers Outstanding Service Awards in 1963 and 1969 and the National Council of Engineering Examiners Distinguished Service Award in 1970.

His teaching interests were in structural engineering analysis and design. He was the author of numerous reports and papers on the performance and rehabilitation of older and historic highway bridge structures. The Henry L. Kinnier Professorship in Civil Engineering, funded by gifts from over 200 former stu-dents, colleagues and friends, was established in 1989. One of his former students anonymously established an endowment fund for the Henry L. Kinnier Scholarship for undergraduate students in civil engineering.

Mr. Kinnier was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church where he was a former Treasurer and had served several terms as an Elder. He was a member of the Raven Society, Omicron Delta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Theta Tau, Kappa Alpha, the Colonnade Club, and a former member of Farmington Country Club. He was Trustee Emeritus of the Gray Carrington Scholarship.

Mr. Kinnier was a member of the Seven Society.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Henry L. Kinnier Scholarship Fund, Virginia Engineering Foundation, P.O. Box 400256, Charlottesville, VA 22904 or Westminster Presbyterian Church, 190 Rugby Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, May 11, 2009, at Westminister Presbyterian Church, 190 Rugby Road, Charlottesville, VA 22903.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.