G. Frohnsdorff Obituary

FROHNSDORFF, G. Geoffrey James Carl Frohnsdorff, 78, of Gaithersburg, Md., died from esophageal cancer March 5, 2006, at a nursing home in Potomac, Md. Dr. Frohnsdorff, an internationally known expert on the chemistry of cement and the durability of building materials, retired from his position as Chief of the Building Materials Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Building and Fire Research Laboratory in 2002. He joined NIST in 1973, when it was known as the National Bureau of Standards. He was honored for his work throughout his career, and in 1982 he was awarded the Silver Medal of the Department of Commerce for the development of a building materials program that has improved standards, test methods, and cement and concrete technology worldwide. Prior to joining NIST, Dr. Frohnsdorff was a research leader at the Gillette Research Institute in Rockville, Md. (1970-73), and Manager of Research and Development for the American Cement Corporation in Riverside, Calif. (1965-70), an organization he had joined as a research chemist in 1960. Born February 4, 1928, in London, Dr. Frohnsdorff was the son of Stanley George Carl Frohnsdorff and Adeline May Frohnsdorff (née Lee). After his mother's death and father's remarriage, he became the stepson of Margaret Doris Frohnsdorff (née Tilbrook). He served two years in the Royal Air Force (1947-49), after which he began studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, earning a B.Sc. (honours) in chemistry in 1953. In 1956, as a Fulbright scholar, he earned an M.S. in physical chemistry from Lehigh University. He was then awarded a senior studentship by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, and in 1959 he received his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of London's Imperial College of Science and Technology. He spent one year engaged in postdoctoral research at the Royal Military College of Canada. In 1956 he married Doris Helen Keen, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; they remained married until 1989. Dr. Frohnsdorff is survived by his son, Gregory James Carl Frohnsdorff, of Charleston, and his wife, Susan; his daughter, Katharine Anne Carney, of Arlington, Va., and her husband, Patrick; his daughter, Elizabeth Susan Conolly, of Bowling Green, Va., and her husband, Paul; his brothers, RaymondStanley MaxFrohnsdorff, of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, and Kenneth George Edward Frohnsdorff, of Ashford, Kent, England; his sister, Ann Emmerick, of Quickborn, Germany; and four grandchildren: Gillian Frohnsdorff, of Charleston; Ryan Carney, of Arlington, Va.; and Duncan and Alexandra Conolly, of Bowling Green, Va. His former wife, Doris Helen Frohnsdorff, lives in Gaithersburg, Md. Burial will take place in Folkestone, England. Visit our guestbook at www.charleston.net/deaths.