The West Virginia University Department of Chemical Engineering will host a memorial service Friday for Alfred F. Galli, an alumnus and longtime faculty member who passed away last September at the age of 88.

The memorial service will take place at 2:30 p.m., Friday, April 30, in the Assembly Room of the National Research Center for Coal and Energy on the Evansdale Campus of WVU. The memorial is being held in conjunction with the spring meeting of the WVU Academy of Chemical Engineers.

Galli was born November 24, 1920, in Millville and was a graduate of Harpers Ferry High School. He attended WVU and earned bachelor’s (1944) and master’s (1947) degrees in chemical engineering.

After graduating, Galli took a position as a process engineer with Ashland Oil & Refining Company. In 1946, he joined the faculty of the WVU Department of Chemical Engineering, where he taught and mentored students for more than 40 years, retiring as a professor of chemical engineering in 1986.

He taught three generations of chemical engineering students. By the time of his retirement, he had taught more than two-thirds of all the chemical engineers who have graduated from WVU. Many alumni visiting the department over the years mention Professor Galli as the single most prevailing influence on their lives, their philosophy and their education.

In 2004, with the support of chemical engineering alumni and industry friends, the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources honored Professor Galli by naming the Alfred F. Galli Laboratory in Chemical Engineering in his honor. In addition, the Alfred F. Galli Laboratory Fund was also established to accomplish ongoing laboratory improvements and to transform the undergraduate chemical engineering experience. Fred was also recognized by the university as an outstanding teacher and by membership in the Order of Vandalia.

Galli was a charter member of the WVU Academy of Chemical Engineers. He was also a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, The Society for Glass Sciences & Practices, The Society of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Omega Chi Epsilon, Phi Lambda Upsilon and Sigma Gamma Epsilon. He was married to the former Beatrice Canacari, and lived in Morgantown, West Virginia.

-WVU-

4/27/10

WVU News on the Web – http://www.wvutoday.wvu.edu/

CONTACT: Susan Case
Director of College Relations
College of Engineering & Mineral Resources
Phone: (304) 293-4086
Email: Susan.Case@mail.wvu.edu