Dr. Jay D. Pinson June 23, 1929 - Sept. 20, 2008
Jay D. Pinson, retired Dean of the College of Engineering at San Jose State University, died September 20 after a brief bout with cancer.
He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Eleanore, a daughter, Deborah Leveridge, a son, Jay II, and his wife, Liz, and three grandchildren, Stephanie and Matthew Pinson, and Johnny Russo.
Born into a farming family of eight children in Wheelersburg, Ohio, he has two brothers, Lester and Raymond of Ohio, and a sister, Nora Fenton of Florida still surviving.
In addition to his four deceased siblings, his daughter Barbara Russo and grandson L. Jay Russo preceded him in death.
During his active life he had three major careers: the US Air Force, higher education and his unique version of "retirement".
After graduating with a B.S. in engineering from Ohio University in 1950, he entered the US Air Force and spent a 22-year career in research and development. During his service, he managed multi-million dollar aircraft development programs on the national and international levels. For the Air Force he directed the development of five new aircraft systems. The international programs were with England, France, Germany, Canada, Japan, and Italy. While in service he earned M.S. and Ph.D degrees in engineering from Oklahoma State University. He retired as a Lt. Colonel.
After leaving the military, Pinson turned to higher education in the School of Engineering at the University of Dayton in 1971. He served as associate dean of the school and as head of the Aerospace Engineering program. He was responsible for more than 20 sponsored research projects, and during his tenure there he was instrumental in expanding research dollars from $500,000 to $7 million.
Pinson became Dean of the San Jose State University College of Engineering in 1979. Faced with a $50 million renovation and expansion of the engineering facilities that the state would not fund fully, Pinson personally contacted more than 150 CEOs, presidents, and directors of corporations, foundations, fraternal and public organizations in successfully raising more than $17 million. Sixty-two of the building's laboratories were donor equipped. To strengthen ties with the industrial community, he formed an Industrial Advisory Board with 42 Silicon Valley leaders and initiated the Applied Technology Institute with the CEOs and presidents of 36 micro-electronic companies.
On an international level he developed cooperative faculty and student exchange programs with institutions in China, Taiwan, France, Germany, England, Mexico, Estonia, and Russia.
After retiring in 1994 from SJSU, Dr. Jay, as he was called by his many friends, became director of Education of Technology for Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International.
Later he formed the Pinson Institute and Lifeline Technologies, Inc., serving as president of each. He also became president of the Applied Global University of Applied Materials, Inc.
For the past three summers he conducted the Silicon Valley Tech Academy for middle and high school science and mathematics students.
An avid golfer, he staged golf tournaments to aid SJSU athletics. He was deeply involved in the planning for the 2010 Science and Mathematics Engineering Fair.
A member of the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame of Santa Clara County, Pinson has served on numerous boards of community organizations including Silicon Valley Engineering Council, Good Samaritan Hospital Trustee Council, San Jose Medical Center, the Health Trust, Silicon Valley Capital Club, Silver Creek Country Club, Santa Clara County Council of Boy Scouts, and the Tower Foundations of SJSU.
Paying tribute to his long time friend and colleague, J. Benton White, said, "Jay was probably the most generous person in giving of his time and talents of anyone I have ever known. He was not only responsible for raising a majority of the money for the SJSU engineering building, he also quietly raised literally millions more for the university, his mater Ohio University, and local charities. One could not say "no" to Jay."
Funeral arrangements are being made by Darling-Fischer Mortuary, 615 N. Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos.
Open casket visitations will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, September 25 and 26.
Memorial services will be held at Almaden Hills United Methodist Church, 1200 Blossom Hill Road in San Jose, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 27.
Burial will be at Los Gatos Memorial Park, 2255 Los Gatos-Almaden Road in San Jose at 1 p.m. and reception for friends will be held from 3-5 p.m. at the Capital Club, 50 W. San Fernando St. in San Jose.
The Pinson family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Jay Pinson Endowment of SJSU or the Barbara Russo Endowment of Ohio University.
Published in San Jose Mercury News on September 24, 2008