Remembering Robert G. Wingerter,

Robert G. Wingerter, BSME'38, the alumnus behind the College of Engineering's prestigious Wingerter Awards, passed away at the age of 94.

The longtime Perrysburg Township, Ohio, resident and friend of the college was in failing health in recent years and died Jan. 3, 2011, in Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

As chief executive officer of the Libbey-Owens-Ford Company, Wingerter took the firm back to profitability, according to the Toledo Blade's obituary, published Jan. 5. Wingerter was hired by Libbey-Owens-Ford (now Pilkington North America) in 1967 after working in engineering sales as a manager and executive for nearly 30 years. Within months, Libbey-Owens-Ford made him president, CEO, and a director, and in 1975 elevated him to chairman. Under Wingerter's leadership, sales doubled and profits climbed by 40 percent, according to a 1972 Forbes magazine article quoted by the Blade.

But to the college, he was the face behind the Wingerter Awards for Excellence in Engineering Scholarship, which, since their establishment by Wingerter in December 1967, go to the college's top four seniors. A tradition was established in the 1990s when the Engineering Alumni Association began bestowing its then-new Outstanding Senior Award to the most remarkable student among the four Wingerter winners.

In 2006, Wingerter told WSU Development Officer Marion Ringe, "I established the awards to reward senior students for their outstanding scholarship, character and leadership. Back then, the awards were $250, and I gave $1,000 each year to fund the four annual awards. Today, each award receives $1,000 and my hope is that the endowment I created will support some future increases to parry the erosion of inflation."

Wingerter told Ringe that it was very gratifying to receive photos and occasional notes of thanks from the students. "Reading about past Wingerter award winners who are succeeding in business is also a great pleasure for me," he said.

Wingerter had a reputation as one who took charge, as demonstrated by his very successful business career. But he had a soft heart for family and friends, his daughter Jan told the Blade.

He was born Oct. 5, 1916, in Detroit. During the Great Depression, he won a scholarship to attend Wayne State University, then known as Detroit City College. "At that time, the Detroit Board of Education awarded one tuition scholarship to what was then Detroit City College to each high school graduating class," Wingerter told Ringe. "When I graduated from Denby High School in 1934, I was the fortunate recipient. That was the way I was able to enter college." He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1938. He was inducted among the founding class of the college's Hall of Fame in 1983.

Surviving Wingerter are his wife of 71 years, Dorothy, a Wayne State education graduate (1939), daughters Gail Sponseller and Janice Dixon, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.