Donald R. Coughanowr, 81, Drexel professor

Donald R. Coughanowr, 81, formerly of St. Davids, a chemical engineer and professor emeritus at Drexel University, died Sunday of mesothelioma at the Crosslands, a retirement community in Kennett Square.

In 1967, Dr. Coughanowr became chairman of the chemical-engineering department at Drexel. As head of the department until 1988, he supervised the planning and design of new teaching and research laboratories. After retiring from Drexel in 1999, he continued to interact with the faculty.

A native of Brazil, Ind., Dr. Coughanowr graduated first in his class from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., in 1949. He earned a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1951.

For two years, he worked for Standard Oil of Indiana before returning to school to earn a doctorate in 1956 from the University of Illinois. There, he met his future wife, Effie Natsis, a native of Greece who was on a Fulbright scholarship. They married in 1955.

Dr. Coughanowr taught at Purdue University before joining Drexel. In 1965, while at Purdue, he published Process Systems Analysis and Control, which was reprinted in 1990 and in 2008, when it was recognized as a groundbreaking book by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He published articles in numerous professional journals, and received support for research from the National Science Foundation and from industry.

Dr. Coughanowr enjoyed theater and opera and had numerous hobbies, his family said. In his youth, he played violin, and he later played a dulcimer that he had made in a workshop in West Virginia.

He built a vacation home in the Poconos and traveled the world with his wife, a professor of classics at Villanova University. The couple took sabbaticals in Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand. They discovered Scottish country dancing in New Zealand and were active with the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.

His wife died in 1998. Six years ago, he moved to the Crosslands, where he taught a dance class and participated on several committees.

Dr. Coughanowr is survived by daughters Corinne and Christine; son David; and six grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Crosslands, 1660 E. Street Rd., Kennett Square.

Donations may be made to the Donald Coughanowr Fund at Drexel University, Office of Institutional Development, 3141 Chestnut St., Philadelphia 19104.