Richard Harold Bernhard

He is survived by his children Barbie Windom (Troy); Dr. Christian Bernhard (Dr. Jill Reese), and Dr. Hans Bernhard (Mitch Null); and four grandchildren - Laura Windom, Trevor Windom, Eva Bernhard-Null, and Landon Bernhard-Null. He was preceded in death by his brother, Bob and his wife of nearly 50 years, Cindy.

Education was of paramount importance in Dick’s life. He earned his Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, with distinction, Cornell ‘56; Master of Science in Management, M.I.T. ‘58; and Ph.D. in Operations Research, Cornell ‘61.

He joined NC State’s Industrial Engineering (now the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering) faculty in 1969 after beginning his career as an assistant professor at Cornell University. He also served as a visiting professor in Brazil, Armenia, New Zealand, and Norway throughout his career. He established a distinguished record of teaching engineering economics at both the undergraduate and graduate levels for more than fifty years. He received the C.A. Anderson Outstanding Faculty Award in 1994, his department’s highest award for teaching and advising undergraduate and graduate students. He received the National Engineering Economy Teaching Excellence Award from the American Society for Engineering Education in 2012. His research interests were engineering economics, financial engineering, cost analysis and control, decision theory, and quantitative modeling. He served as an associate editor for The Engineering Economist, The Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis, IIE Transactions, and the Journal of Engineering Valuation and Cost Analysis. He officially retired in 2011 yet continued to teach a graduate level engineering economics class each fall semester through 2019.

Dick volunteered his time throughout his tenure at NC State, including serving multiple terms on the Faculty Senate, the College of Engineering Executive Committee, and the University Library Committee. He was a Friends of the Library Life member and received the NC State Libraries Faculty Award in 2004. He also provided philanthropy to NC State, including establishing library endowments in his three children’s names, an enhancement endowment in his own name in the College of Engineering, and two named group study rooms in the Hunt Library.

Dick was a giving servant of God at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church where he was a member for 54 years. He served multiple terms on Church Council, delivered Meals on Wheels, and provided financial guidance as Assistant Treasurer on the Finance Committee.

Dick enjoyed sharing his love of classical music with others, including selling season tickets for the Friends of the College series, serving on the board of the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild, and most recently sharing North Carolina Symphony online concerts with friends and family during the pandemic.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Cypress of Raleigh and Rosewood Health Care Center for the excellent care they provided him during the last months of his life. We are particularly grateful for the joy that his companion Sherrie brought to him in his final days.

A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, November 23, 2024 at 1:00 pm at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 2723 Clark Avenue, Raleigh, NC. A reception with the family will immediately follow in the Fellowship Hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z4M0/home) or the Fund for Library Excellence at NC State (https://give.ncsu.edu/libraries).

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh.