Ferdinand Rodriguez

Ferdinand Rodriguez, age 95, passed away Wednesday, September 6, 2023. Son of Jose and Concha Rodriguez, he was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up excelling in school, playing clarinet and saxophone in bands, reading at the library, and building model airplanes. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1946. He studied Chemical Engineering at Case Institute of Technology, graduating in 1950. From 1950 to 1954 he worked at Ferro Chemical and simultaneously studied nights to earn an MS from Case in 1954. In 1951 he met and married Ethel Koster. They moved to Frederick, Maryland in 1954 while he served in the US Army for two years.

From 1956 to 1958 he pursued graduate studies at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, earning a PhD in Chemical Engineering specializing in polymers. He joined the Cornell faculty in 1958 for a career of over four decades. He was a dedicated educator, well-known for his lecture demonstrations using poppit beads, the Vac-U-Form, and the Thingmaker. He was the recipient of the Cornell Society of Engineers Excellence in Teaching Award, the Dean's Excellence in Teaching Award and the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement, Education-Research Award. He was faculty adviser to the Cornell student chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers for 16 years.

He was also an outstanding researcher, publishing on polymer properties and processing. He advised 21 Ph.D. students and 34 M.S. students. He was the author of “Principles of Polymer Systems” first published in 1971, translated into Spanish, and now available in its 6th edition. He was a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and a member of the American Chemical Society, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the Society of Plastics Engineers. On sabbatical leaves he conducted research at Queen Mary College of the University of London, Eastman Kodak, Imperial Chemical Industries and Union Carbide.

Ferdinand and Ethel helped establish Trinity Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) in Ithaca. Through the years he served as lay preacher, Sunday School superintendent, and choir director. He also expressed his faith in a number of gospel songs he wrote that were published by Hope Publishing.

In retirement Ferdinand and Ethel returned to Cleveland where they rejoined the congregation at Christ Lutheran Church where they had been married. They made

frequent trips to help daughter Lida with the grandchildren. Ferdinand enjoyed playing in several community bands, reuniting with at least one bandmate he had performed with more than 60 years earlier. Later they moved to Connecticut to be near their daughter Holly.

Ferdinand is survived by daughters Holly (and Russell Rushmeier) and Lida (and Neal Bringe), grandchildren Peter (and Melody), John, Gloria, Thomas, and Nathanael (Bringe), and great grandchildren Alfred, Katherine, Anne, Margaret, and Patrick (Bringe). He was preceded in death by his wife Ethel, and sisters Conchita Fraass, Margarita Kerka, and Amparo Davis, and brother Ralph Rodriguez. Burial will be at Lutheran Cemetery in Cleveland, OH.