Aug. 30, 2007--Richard A. Albright Jr., 63, died suddenly Aug. 25.

Richard A. Albright Jr.

Dr. Albright was a professional at the University of Delaware, working in Information Technologies from 1983-92 and the Department of Computer and Information Sciences from 1992 to 2003. He continued to teach on a part-time basis after his 2003 retirement.

Born in Portland, Maine, he was a direct descendant of William Bradford, the second governor of Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. He spent part of his early childhood in Gray, Maine, where he attended a one-room school during his primary school years. His father's military career subsequently took him to the Panama Canal Zone, where he lived for two years before the family settled near Elkton, Md., in the mid-1950s.

He attended public schools in Elkton, graduating from high school in 1963. In high school, he was a member of the marching band, was selected first trombonist in the Maryland all-state band, lettered in track and field, and played on the basketball team. President of his senior class, he served as class valedictorian, was elected to the National Honor Society and served as a delegate to Maryland Boys State Government.

He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of Delaware in 1967. As an undergraduate, he played trombone in the University of Delaware Marching Band and the Symphonic Band.

He earned his Ph.D. at UD in 1971 for original research on “An Integration Theory of Topological Spaces,” under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Neilson in the Department of Mathematics.

Dr. Albright subsequently accepted a faculty position at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., where he attained the rank of associate professor of mathematic and later directed the Department of Academic Computing there. His career path took him back to the University of Delaware, where he was a systems programmer in the Computer Users System Center. From 1983 to 1992, he served as associate to the chair in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences. In this capacity, he coordinated the teaching programs of the department and taught many courses in computer programming.

After his retirement from the University of Delaware in 2003, he continued to teach on a part-time basis at UD and as an associate professor of computer Information systems at Goldey-Beacom College.

Dr. Albright is survived by his wife, Leena, and their young daughters, Dylan and Taryn, and by his sons, Benjamin of New London, Conn., and Matthew, an undergraduate at the University of Delaware, and daughters, Cara of Newark, Del., who is a graduate student at Villanova University, and Leah and her husband Dan Roche, who is a graduate student at the University of Waterloo, Canada. He also is survived by his father, Richard Andrew Albright Sr., of Elkton, Md., a brother, Jack Albright, of Kennett Square, Pa., and a second brother, Craig Albright, of West Chester, Pa.

A memorial service in celebration of his life was held Aug. 29, at Beeson Funeral Home of Newark.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Leena Albright c/o Beeson Funeral Home, 2053 Pulaski Highway, Newark, DE 19702 for the education of his children.