Obituary of Howard Kingsbury

Howard F. Kingsbury, 88, of State College, died Tuesday, January 25, 2011, at the Atrium at the Village at Penn State. Born March 13, 1922 in Elmira Heights, NY, he was the son of the late Rexford Earle and Rowena Coolbaugh Fink. He married the former Callie McHaffie who survives in State College. He is also survived by five children, John H. Kingsbury, of Columbus, Ga., Dallas G. Kingsbury, of Las Vegas, Peter G. Kingsbury, of Albertville, Al., David E. Kingsbury, of Lock Haven and Eve M. Kingsbury, of Maplewood, NJ. He is also survived by seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Emeritus Professor Howard Kingsbury graduated in 1943 with his BS degree in Glass Technology from the State University of New York, and received his M.S. in Ceramic Technology from Penn State in 1947. From 1947 to 1964, he spent time in industrial research and product development focusing on daylighting research and acoustical research and development. He worked for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company, the Pittsburgh-Corning Corporation, and for Sylvania Electric Products, Inc. He returned to Penn State in 1964 to join the architectural engineering faculty. Kingsbury was course coordinator for undergraduate architectural acoustics work. He also served as undergraduate program officer in AE and on numerous committees in the College of Engineering and at the University. He was also one of the co-founders of the University of Leeds, Leeds, UK student exchange program with Penn State. From 1983 - 1985 he served as the Interim Department Head and he retired from Penn State in 1991. In 2007, he and his wife established an endowment for the Howard and Callie Kingsbury Award for Excellence in Architectural Acoustics. The award is presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement by an Architectural Engineering undergraduate student. Throughout his retirement he remained active with the Architectural Engineering Department assisting with acoustics courses and serving as a regular Jury member for the AE Senior Thesis. He frequently was an outside lecturer and involved with several community groups including the Patton Township Planning Commission, Patton Township Supervisor, the State College Rotary Club and University Park Airport Authority Board. Kingsbury was a nationally recognized authority on Architectural Acoustics. He contributed extensively in his field through his involvement with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the American Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST). He was a founding member and former director of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering (NCE) and a national accreditor for acoustical laboratories for NIST NVLAP Lab Accreditation Program. He was a registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania and an elected Fellow in both ASHRAE and ASTM. Visitation will be 11-1 p.m., Wednesday, February 2, 2011, at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St., State College. Memorial Service will follow at 1 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be in Spring Creek Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Atrium at the Village at Penn State, 160 Lion's Hill Road, State College, PA 16803 or the Howard and Callie Kingsbury Award for Excellence in Architectural Acoustics, One Old Main, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802. Online condolences can be made at www.kochfuneralhome.com