HKN Lifetime Contributor has Passed Away
HKN has lost a lifetime contributor and friend. Larry Dwon (Kappa 1934), HKN Eminent Member, Distinguished Service Award Recipient and committee chair, and ardent HKN historian passed away February 4, 2009. HKN shares its condolences with his family.
Larry’s family generously asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to Eta Kappa Nu in Larry’s memory.
Larry Dwon’s Obituary—(May 2, 1913-Feburary 4, 2009)
Larry Dwon, West Kill, NY, died naturally in his home February 4, 2009. He was 95 years old. Larry (born Vladimir Dzwonczyk on May 2, 1913 in New York City, NY to Lukac and Mary Dzwonczyk) graduated from Stuyvesant High School (New York City). He received a Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineer from Cornell University in 1935 and a Master’s degree in business administration from New York University in 1954.
He began his engineering career with Diehl Mfg. Co. and Holophane Lighting Co. followed by a 40-year tenure with American Electric Power Service Corp (NYC). During WWII, he was granted leave from AEP to join the Office of Science and Research Development where he was assigned to Harvard Radio Research Labs and then Bell Telephone Labs, where he worked on classified war-related research and development projects, including radar systems. While at AEP he taught evening engineering and management courses at Pratt Institute and Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. At AEP he practiced power systems electrical engineering for 20 years and was subsequently promoted to Manager Engineering Manpower.
It was in his position as engineering manpower manager for AEP where he leaves his most important legacy as an innovator and iconic maverick at a time when power engineering education on university campuses was at an ebb. His accomplishments in educating engineering students for the electric power industry remain as the cornerstone for the top power electrical engineering university programs in the country.
His influence on engineering students is unsurpassed. He developed procedures for efficient utilization of technically educated human resources, nurtured relationships between colleges and the power industry, developed detailed engineering recruitment procedures and in-company training and education programs. He conducted both salary and manpower utilization surveys to promote efficient and equitable utilization of engineers in the power industry.
He was a Fellow in the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), where he established and chaired the Power Engineering Education Committee that continues its work today.
He was a seventy-year leader and active volunteer in the electrical engineering honor society Eta Kappa Nu (HKN), serving both as president and as chair of many national committees on education. In 1984 he was elected an eminent member of HKN, one of only 100 engineers so honored in the past century.
Among numerous awards for his lifelong service, he was recognized by the Edison Electric Institute for his “untiring and unequaled leadership in promoting liaison between the electric utility industry and the educational community for the mutual benefit of both and for the ultimate good bestowed upon the public as the result of this cooperation.”
In his career he published 100 technical articles and gave 200 talks at engineering technical conferences and universities. Following his retirement from AEP in 1978 he continued his work in engineering education at North Carolina State University as well as his involvement in HKN and IEEE.
Larry was married for 62 years to Mary Skala Dwon, who died in 2003. They had two sons, Larry Dwon, who died in 2005, and Roger Dzwonczyk. Roger (of Columbus, OH) and his spouse, Jennifer, and their three children Mary, Sara and Andrew survive as do his deceased son’s spouse Christine (of West Kill, NY) and her two children Paul, his wife Liza and their daughter Abigail, and Matthew.
Services will be held at Decker Funeral Home, Windham, NY, on Saturday February 7, 2009 at 11AM. Friends may call prior to the service from 10AM to 11AM. A spring interment will take place West Kill Cemetery.
In Larry’s memory you may make a donation to Eta Kappa Nu, 300 West Adams Street, Suite 1210, Chicago, IL 60606-5114, phone 1-800-406-2590. Please reference Larry Dwon.