Russell, David Lewis

David Lewis Russell, 76, died suddenly at his home in Blacksburg on Sunday, October 4 2015.

He leaves behind his wife of 16 years, Xiu Zhen (Li) Russell; his sister, Caroline Russell; his four sons, Raymond Russell, James Russell, Matthew Russell, and Wenquan Wu; his daughter, Jessica Wenhua Wu; three grandchildren, and many friends and colleagues.

Raised in Newfoundland, the son of Marion and George Russell, Dr. Russell moved to the United States in 1956 to attend Andrews University, where he met his first wife Rebecca (Kovener) Russell.

After graduating from Andrews University, he obtained a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Minnesota in 1964. He accepted a position as a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, where he worked from 1965 to 1988. He then accepted a position as a Professor of Mathematics at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where he worked until the present. During his years as a professor, Dr. Russell guided the efforts of over 30 students who obtained a PhD or Masters degree in Mathematics under his supervision.

Dr. Russell specialized in the fields of Mathematics known as ordinary and partial differential equations, Systems Theory, Elasticity, Mathematical Modeling, and Control Theory. He was particularly interested in practical applications of Mathematics, and carried out work for Honeywell Inc., Battelle Laboratories, the U.S Army Fire Control Division, the U.S Naval Surface Weapons Center, the U.W. Modelling Information Processing and Control (MIPAC) Facility, the United States Army Applied Mathematics Steering Committee, and was a member of the NSF Panel on Future Directions in Control Theory. He was the author of over 125 scientific publications. His Honors, Awards, and Editorial Positions are too numerous to list in detail, but include being a National Defense Education Act Fellow, an Alumnus of Achievement at Andrews University, a Member of the Editorial Boards for the SIAM Journal on Control, and a Consulting Editor for the Proceedings (A) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Dr. Russell was well-known for his quiet intelligence, kindness, integrity, and sense of humor. He was a capable carpenter, and routinely cobbled together small inventions to help around the home. He was a skilled painter on canvas, an avid reader and opera fan, travelled widely, and spoke a variety of languages with varying degrees of proficiency.

A Funeral Service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, at the Luther Memorial Lutheran Church at 600 Prices Fork Road. Flowers are welcome and should be sent to the McCoy Funeral Home (150 Country Club Drive SW, Blacksburg 24060). A reception and burial will take place after the Service. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg