“Former West Lafayette resident and Purdue University engineering professor Joseph Genin passed away in Las Cruces, New Mexico on May 6th. He was 82. He leaves his wife of 48 years, Grace Ann; his sons, Kent, Guy, and Hugh; and 5 grandchildren, Orly, Zachary, Liora, Jacob, and Samuel. Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, the youngest son of Kalman and Ida Genin, Joseph grew up in New York City. He graduated from Long Island City High School in 1948 and decided to pursue a degree at City College of New York rather than continue pursuit of a professional baseball career. He worked in New York City as a structural engineer until he was drafted for the Korean War. The army sent him to France for the duration of the war, where he designed civil engineering structures, and traveled Europe playing for the Army's baseball team. After the Army, he opened a civil engineering firm in Tucson, Arizona, and contributed to rebuilding the downtown area. He simultaneously earned a master's degree at the University of Arizona and then, at his brother's urging, pursued doctoral work at the University of Minnesota. After a few years working on a broad range of aircraft for General Dynamics in Dallas/Fort Worth, he joined Purdue University's faculty of Aeronautics, Astronautics, and Engineering Sciences and eventually served as head of the School of Mechanical Engineering's engineering mechanics division. He was director of the Advanced Transportation Center, working on projects ranging from transportation for the Gemini missions to the world's largest dump truck, and was among the pioneers who placed the fields of solid and rigid body mechanics on firm mathematical principles. He wrote a series of textbooks in this area that continue to be used to this day, and techniques he developed are now part of a standard engineering curriculum. He moved to New Mexico State University, where he served as dean of engineering for four years before resuming his life-long interests of teaching and research as a professor of engineering. He never retired, and taught mechanics courses and conducted research on dynamic stability and fluid/structure interactions until his death this year. He continued his passion for baseball throughout his life, and coached several baseball teams including his children's West Lafayette Little League teams. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 13th, at Temple Israel, at 620 Cumberland Avenue in West Lafayette. Soller-Baker Funeral