John L. Lundberg

John L. Lundberg, 86, an emeritus professor of engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, died on Sept. 2.

Born in St. Paul, Lundberg served in the Army Air Forces as a navigator and received the Distinguished Flying Cross medal. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1948 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1952 under renowned polymer chemist Bruno Zimm.

Lundberg began his career conducting polymer research at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., while also teaching at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, now the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, as an adjunct professor. In 1968, he joined the faculty of Clemson University, in South Carolina, serving as professor and chairman of its textile department until 1971.

Subsequently, Lundberg moved to Georgia Tech, serving as its Callaway Professor of Textile Engineering for 20 years. His research focused on polymer chemistry, light scattering, and physics.

He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and the Fiber Society. He was a fellow of the American Institute of Chemists and the American Physical Society and an emeritus member of ACS, joining in 1949. He served the ACS North Jersey Section as chair in 1964 and as councilor from 1959 until 1970.

After retiring in 1991, Lundberg traveled with his wife, Barbara, to all seven of the world’s continents. He loved to play golf and was an active member of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Family, in Jasper, Ga.

In addition to his wife, Lundberg is survived by sons, Thomas and Karl; daughters, Kristine Thornsberry and Kate Quillian; and seven grandchildren.