Dr. Anton J. Pintar
Dr. Anton J. Pintar was born in Painesdale in 1940, graduated from Jeffers High School in 1958, graduated from Michigan College of Mining and Technology (now Michigan Technological University) in 1962 with a B. S. in Chemical Engineering, and then graduated with a Ph. D. in Chemical Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1968. He taught Chemical Engineering at Michigan Tech for 36 years retiring in 2002. He became an MTU Professor Emeritus of Chemical Engineering in 2002.
Anton was dedicated to teaching, receiving the Michigan Tech Distinguished Teacher Award in 1981, the ASEE North Midwest Section Outstanding Teaching Award in 1997, AIChE Outstanding Counselor Award in 1985, and AIChE Outstanding Chapter Award in 1983.
He obtained industrial experience by consulting for Dow Corning Corporation and Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, serving as an ASEE Fellow for the engineering design company, Catalytic, Inc., in Philadelphia and for the NASA Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, and working for 3M Company in St. Paul and the IIT Research Institute in Chicago.
In 1982 Anton instituted a laboratory safety program into the senior year MTU Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory. This was prior to the Bhopal Disaster and the national emphasis on Chemical Process Safety. This program evolved into the “Prevent Accidents With Safety (PAWS)” Program, which serves as a model for other universities. An updated version of his Safety Manual is still used at MTU. His hobby and great love is mathematics, particularly applied math and mathematical modeling. Anton developed models for predicting Fire and Explosion Parameters as a part of the AICHE DIPPR Project at Michigan Tech. He has published numerous papers on Laboratory Safety and Predicting Fire and Explosion Parameters.
Anton is still active professionally and maintains memberships in AIChE, ASEE, ACS, NFPA, MAA, SIAM, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, and AAUP. He attends the ASEE Annual Conferences each year and currently serves as the Secretary-Treasurer of the ASEE Mathematics Division.
He is active in community organizations, serving on the boards of Painesdale Mine and Shaft (working to preserve the Champion #4 Shafthouse), the Copper Range Historical Society, and the Michigan Association of Retired School Personnel. He is an active member of the Range Lions Club and the Sarah Sargent Paine Historical Research Center. He was elected to the Houghton County Board of Commissioners in 2006 and re-elected in 2008.
Anton is married and has four sons, one daughter, and seven grandchildren. |
