Dr. Larry J. Forney

Larry J. Forney, 77, of Atlanta, GA passed away on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, after a long illness.

Larry was born on November 1, 1944, in Waterloo, Iowa to the late Loren John Forney and Ramona Leary Forney. He graduated from Case Institute of Technology (BS, 1966, Engineering Science), MIT (MS, 1968, ME, 1969, Mechanical Engineering), and Harvard University (PhD, 1974, Engineering and Applied Physics). After graduation, Larry was a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois from 1974-1979 and at Georgia Institute of Technology in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from 1979-2009, retiring with emeritus status.

Dr. Forney’s research interest was applied fluid mechanics. He co-authored a textbook in the field, wrote numerous book chapters, and published 80 papers in refereed scientific/engineering journals which have been referenced by other researchers over 3000 times. In addition, Dr. Forney developed several patented devices and methods for fluid analysis, gave numerous conference presentations, chaired sessions at national meetings (AIChE, AAAR), consulted nationally and internationally, and won national and international awards for his research (NIH, NSF, NASA, IChemE). In addition to teaching/supervising numerous undergraduate, masters, doctoral and post-doctoral students, Dr Forney was proud to have been elected as faculty advisor by the students of Tech’s undergraduate chemical engineering honor society, Omega Chi Epsilon, a position he held and enjoyed from 1985 until his retirement.

Larry is survived by his wife of 47 years, Paula Forney, his daughter, Megan Panzano, son-in-law, Vince Panzano, and two grandsons, Luca Forney Panzano and Vincent Forney Panzano, all deeply loved by Larry. He is also survived by a sister, Shivonne Depugh, and a brother, David Forney.

A private family gathering will be held in Boston to honor Larry’s life. In order to support Larry’s lifelong interest in access to quality education for all, the family requests contributions be made in his name to the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Early Design Education Programs. Checks can be made (with Larry’s name in the memo space) to: Harvard University- Attn GSD-EDE Programs, PO Box 419209, Boston, MA 02241-9209 or on-line contributions made at http://gsd.harvard.edu/donate. Select OTHER from the drop-down menu and write “Larry J. Forney, EDE Programs” in Other Fund Name.

A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home, Decatur, GA is in charge of arrangements. asturner.com