David W. (Dave) Dickinson

Before Retirement, I woked about half of my career in the primay metals production industry. In 1984 I joined the faculty at Ohio State University and helped establish the Edison Welding Institute (the largest corporate based welding research institute in the world and the only one in the US). I served as Depratment Chair of the Welding Engineering Program at OSU and as the Assocaite Dean of the College of Engineering. I was president of the American Welding Society working with manufacturing in the Aerospace industry, and led many technical delegations into facilities in Europe, Eastern Europe, the former USSA, China and Japan.

I also have been active in a high school curricululm program called "Project Lead the Way" (PLTW) based in Clifton Park NY which encourages students to consider engineering as a career. I serve as the Chair of a National Academy Foundation Advisory Board for Engineering in the Columbus Ohio Public School System and on the state PLTW Board.

I also serve on the Ohio Board For Kairos Prison Ministry (chairperson 2012-2015). We spend long weekends in 26 prisons in Ohio helping to change inmate's attitudes and to assist in reentry. One of the most enjoyable parts of this is to mentor several juvenile offenders on a weekly basis. In addition, I have made several mission trips through my church to help build schools in Honduras and Peru.

Since retirement in 2007, Shirley and I have enjoyed traveling, and I have enjoyed genealogy research and have become a sort of historian for our extended family, many folks of whom from our graduating class at THS are leaves in that family tree.

If I was not the youngest boy in our high school class, I was close to the youngest. Because of this, I tended to be a little shy. It took a lot for me in my freshman year to try out for the swimming team. What a great decision that was! Our teammates bonded so well and we really had a great team, winning meets all over New York. You know, I didn’t even mind those winter mornings where our hair froze to our heads upon coming outside after a Saturday practice. Now after over 50 years, I have one regret: that I did not stay in better touch with all those friends from THS. I’m going to correct that starting now.