Dr. Joseph Reynolds, Former Chair Of Manhattan College’s Chemical Engineering Department, Dies At 71

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Dr. Joseph Reynolds, a member of the chemical engineering faculty at Manhattan College for more than four decades, passed away on Tuesday, May 1. He was 71.

Reynolds joined the College in 1964 and served as chair of the chemical engineering department from 1976-1983. Prior to his arrival at the College, Reynolds taught high school chemistry and physics full time at LaSalle Academy in New York City from 1957-59, and college chemistry part time for The Catholic University of America while pursuing his doctoral degree.

Reynolds was a four-time recipient of the Outstanding Teacher award given by Manhattan College’s Tau Beta Pi honor society, the national honor society for students of engineering.

“I think that the students really enjoyed his courses,” says Dr. Walter Saukin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Manhattan College. “They clearly learned a lot about preparing for class and the importance of being on top of their game, making sure they understood the course work, and making sure it’s a working knowledge.”

As part of his academic duties, Reynolds served for many years as moderator of the student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and was president of the College’s Sigma Xi chapter, the national honor society that recognizes original research in pure and applied sciences. Off campus, he developed and taught courses in hazardous waste incinerator calculations for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Pollution Training Institute.

“It seemed that Manhattan College and its students and faculty had a warm place in his heart,” Saukin adds.

Reynolds presented many papers and chaired sessions at technical meetings, coordinated continuing education programs in connection with those meetings, published several articles in science and engineering journals, and served as general chairman of a national conference on energy and the environment.

Reynolds was a member of the Air and Waste Management Association and the American Society for Engineering Education, as well as the honorary societies Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society for liberal arts colleges, and Phi Lambda Upsilon, the national honor society for chemistry. He was listed in American Men and Women in Science, Who’s Who in Technology Today, International Who’s Who in Engineering and Who’s Who in Engineering.

“He will be dearly missed by all those whose lives he touched,” says Ronald Leone ’67, former director, systems management operation at The BOC Group, and a consultor to the College’s chemical engineering department. “Joe was the embodiment of the spirit and tradition that so richly permeates the department.”

Reynolds, a Bronx resident, received a B.A. in chemistry from The Catholic University of America and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

A wake will be held on Friday, May 4 at Riverdale-on-Hudson Funeral Home in Riverdale, N.Y., from 4:00-9:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Professor Joseph P. Reynolds Scholarship for Chemical Engineering, c/o Manhattan College, Office of Planned Giving.

Founded in 1853, Manhattan College is an independent, Catholic, coeducational institution of higher learning offering more than 40 major programs of undergraduate study in the areas of arts, business, education, engineering and science, along with graduate programs in education and engineering. For more information about Manhattan College, visit www.manhattan.edu.