What made Poly great for me (besides it’s outstanding educational program) was that it was a ‘commuter’ school.  Maybe 50 of 1500 kids were ‘residents’.  Everyone else took the subway to and from school every day.  So, my age was never a factor.

One of the other intriguing facts about Poly was that the tuition charged was about the same amount of family income earned.  So, it was a great way for folks “to move on up”.  Truly a chance for the American Dream.

After my other opportunity (grad school), where the ChemE (among other programs) was a “theoretical” engineering program.  As such, I was able to coalesce the Poly way (we make things work) and the MIT way (this is how things should work) into my own process for product and process development.

My experiences at Poly ensured that I was always ready and willing to help it recruit new students and to raise funds for its most meager scholarship program; I even became very active in the Metropolitan DC alumni association.  (We had about 10% of the number of folks that lived in Metropolitan NY, but raised about the same amount of money each year for scholarships and programs.)

That’s where I met one of two wonderful people.  William Friend was a fellow ChemE who hailed from Poly.  (Bill got his Master’s degree from Delaware, another good engineering program.)

Actually, Bill was a typical Poly student.  Back when I (and, a decade earlier, he) went to Poly, about 75% of the students were graduates of the ‘super’ high schools of New York City.  The bulk of them came from Brooklyn Tech (the ‘engineering’ honor school about a mile away from Brooklyn Poly), with the others coming from Bronx Science (the ‘science’ honor school in the borough of Bronx) and Stuyvesant (an ‘overall’ honor school- one of four high schools in the world that can claim 4 Nobel Laureates).  Bill heralded from ‘Stuy’.

And, then he graduated summa cum laude from Poly in Chem E.  (Back when he and I went to Poly, more than ½ of those who entered the ChemE curriculum never finished, so completing the program summa cum laude was a heck of a distinction.)  And, then obtained his MSChE from Delaware two years later.

Bill started his career at Lummus (then in New York), the foundation of his 41 y stint in international engineering and construction.  By 1972, he became CEO of JF Pritchard in Kansas City, and then jumped to Bechtel in 1977- which provided him international opportunities in his field.

I met Bill when he moved back to the DC area in 1996.  He and his second wife (Mary Kay- I kid you not!) were simply charming.  And, as esteemed as he was (Executive Vice President and Director of Bechtel [the largest construction firm in the US and the 11^th largest private firm]; having already been elected to the National Academy of Engineering), he and Mary Kay never lived in a McMansion and enjoyed life to the fullest.

Bill was inspiring.  His influence was strong- but not necessarily vocal.  He endowed meaning to what he did- when he provided his time, his money- it had a clear purpose and it was evident.  Like how he endowed two scholarships for Poly students in Chem E.   (By the way, this was typical for first generation college students in Chem E in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.)

And, Bill and Mary Kay let our DC area alumni group hold annual meetings at his home.  Where Poly’s President (and other officials) joined us for the events.  Going to his wonderful home in McLean was a highlight for our active alumni.

Unfortunately, Bill succumbed to Alzheimer’s more than a decade ago.  (That was right about the time that our noted ChemE professor, Dr. Donald Othmer [who with Dr. Ray Kirk, wrote the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology- a 27 volume set], died and left a hefty endowment to Brooklyn Poly.  Othmer’s endowment was roughly 100 times the total amount of money ever raised by Poly.)

Which is why NYU coveted Poly.  NYU began cajoling politicians to change the rules that outlawed them from offering engineering programs.  [NYU had gone bankrupt in the early 1970’s – their med school and law school refused to share their funds to keep NYU  solvent.  So New York State bailed the school out, and as part of the deal transferred the  engineering programs and campus to Poly].  But, NYU’s lobbying prevalied and  Poly really is no more.  It’s now the “Tandon School of Engineering at NYU”.  Thankfully, Bill didn’t have to deal with this issue….

But, I did lose touch with Bill then.  Not only because I refused to have anything to do with NYU, but because Bill relocated to an assisted-living and memory care facility in Virginia.  But, that’s not how the world lost Bill….

Nope.  Bill developed COVID-19.  Not only did he have respiratory issues, but his Alzheimer’s was exacerbated.

ChemE’s at Brooklyn Poly and Delaware really did lose a “Friend”.