Dr. Ronald William Armstrong

Dr. Ronald William Armstrong, passed away peacefully on May 11th. He was Professor Emeritus at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, and an internationally-renowned material scientist living in Ocean City, MD, with collaborating research partners in all corners of the world on the strength of materials, poly-crystal structures, and temperature and strain influences on mechanical properties. Celebrated for his witty poems and dry humor, Ron had just completed editing two books and was actively working on a third while publishing additional research papers at the time of his passing. Prior to joining the faculty at Maryland, Ron was a tenured professor at Brown University. He also was a Life Member of Clare Hall at the University of Cambridge. With his beloved wife, Mary Ann, and daughters, Lisa and Lori, Ron traveled the world with stints living in New Zealand, Australia, and England, while pursuing his lifelong passion for fly fishing. Born May 4, 1934, in Baltimore, MD, Ron spent his formative years often skipping school to go fishing with his father. He worked at Tochterman’s Fishing Tackle on Eastern Avenue where he tied flies regularly for Ted Williams. He was an accomplished boxer and wrestler while at Baltimore Polytechnic and was Maryland State Featherweight Wrestling Champion in 1954 while attending Johns Hopkins University. Ron completed his PHD at Carnegie Tech in 3 years. There he met the love of his life, Mary Ann Manarczyk. They left Pittsburgh to spend their first year of marriage at Leeds University where Ron completed his Post Doc research with Sir Norman Petch. Ron is survived by his loving daughters, Lisa and Lori Armstrong, his son-in-law Fred Kaulbach, and his devoted grandchildren Max, Jasia, Griffin, Colt and Cypress. Ron’s clever wordsmithing and loving affections are already so greatly missed, along with his smile that showed more joy than most get in a whole lifetime, and his congenial winks that he employed often to tell us: he knows the secret and now we do too. He never tired of telling everyone, “Stay out of the left lane!” Ron’s profound respect for Maryland’s tidal waters will extend past his death.  Ron’s family will be following Ron’s wish to spread his ashes in the Chesapeake Bay. A short film about Ron and his love of fishing recently won two awards at the Ocean City Film Festival. It can be enjoyed at this link: https://vimeo.com/777092169