Bondie , Royal J.
Dates
- Existence: 1923 - 1993
Biography
Born on September 22, 1923, of French descent, Royal J. Bondie Jr. received degrees in aeronautical engineering from the University of Detroit and Wichita State University.
After working for five years as senior research engineer in the department of engineering research at Wichita State, Bondie arrived in January, 1957, at Parks College, where he taught and was responsible for developing and maintaining the wind-tunnel laboratories, considered among the best of their kind. "Despite his extensive theoretical background," declared an article noting his retirement as professor of aerospace engineering in 1987, "Professor Bondie has always put the emphasis on testing, rather than abstract analysis. He is known as an excellent yet easygoing and very enjoyable teacher who obviously loved his work and, above all, his students. They reciprocated. When he retired last August, it became painfully obvious how much he would be missed." Bondie's dedication to students was demonstrated by the extracurricular load he carried at Parks: he was faculty advisor to Alpha Beta Gamma, a social fraternity, and to the student branch of AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics), for which latter activity he received the citation as outstanding faculty advisor three times.
Bondie was especially interested in vehicle drag problems in automobiles and trucks, and served as a consultant in this area for law and engineering firms during the 1970s. He also did consulting work for the United States Army Aviation Materiel Command (1966-67) and was a senior engineer at Sverdrup and Parcel (1966-68). His outside teaching experiences included organizing the St. Louis section of AIAA student paper conferences (1966 and 1969) and an AlAA seminar on aerodynamic subjects for students from area universities (1974). He also initiated and coordinated with other instructors examination review sessions for students planning to become professional licensed engineers, and was on the Education and Scholarship Committee of the Illinois Society of Professional Engineers (1971-74).
Bondie was convinced of the efficacy of Myers-Briggs personality type indicator tests as a teaching aid and received a grant to administer the tests to Parks students. Unfortunately, Bondie lamented, "I have found it extremely difficult to promote the usefulness of this personality typing at both the departmental and college level."
Bondie was active in his community as well, serving as president of the school board of Gibault Catholic High School in Waterloo, Illinois, and presiding over the building of a new complex for the institution. He held all major offices in the Columbia, Illinois, Lions Club and helped establish the organization's youth center. He was program chairman for lectures for the Waterloo Council of the Knights of Columbus and treasurer, general manager, and president of the Parks College Credit Union.
Bondie's wife Patricia was a librarian for the Cahokia, Illinois School District. The couple planned to travel in their recreational vehicle and do genealogical research after Bondie's retirement. Bondie may also have enjoyed hunting, since an unanswered solicitation from the National Rifle Association (NRA) was found in his correspondence, as was a circular from Springfield Armory in Geneseo, Illinois, advertising firearms to dealers. The Bondies had three daughters-Diane, Bethany, and Susan-and six grandchildren. Royal Bondie passed away on July 4, 1993.