James D Kearns

Kearns, James D.
James D. Kearns, Ph.D., age 75, of Washington Township, passed on Sunday, November 5th, 2023. James was born April 28, 1948 in Springfield, Ohio, to Jerome and Jean (Henderson) Kearns. He attended Catholic Central HS in Springfield, Ohio. He holds degrees in Chemical Engineering from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio (BSChE), an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and an MBA from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

For nineteen years Dr. Kearns supported Technology Transfer (T2) as a way to share collaborator and government lab resources, capabilities, knowledge and intellectual property to enhance Air Force Research Laboratory R&D programs and address collaborator technology issues. This support was aligned with the 711th Human Performance Wing from 2005 to his retirement in 2021. Prior to that Jim served in a similar capacity as a Senior T2 Specialist for contractors Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, Fairborn, Ohio and Wright Technology Network (WTN), Kettering, Ohio.

Technology Transfer allowed Dr. Kearns to take advantage of his prior experience by blending marketing communications (Kearns Communications Group – 14yrs) and chemical industry R&D (Union Carbide – 14yrs as Technology Manager/Group Leader/Specialty Chemicals). Dr. Kearns won two Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Tech Transfer Excellence Awards and served as Deputy Director for FLC’s Midwest Region. And, in 2021, Jim was presented with the George Linsteadt Award, DoD’s highest Technology Transfer Award. Dr. Kearns is a past president of both the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE) and Engineers Foundation of Ohio (EFO). He was granted three patents and published several technical papers, including a chapter in McGraw-Hill’s Advances in Chemistry Series.

Jim is survived by his son Ted (Corinne) Kearns and grandchildren, Claire and Graham, brothers, Robert (Judy) and Edward (Connie) Kearns, sisters in law Barbara (Tim) Schillhahn and Trish (Michael) O’Brien, and many nieces and nephews he dearly loved. Jim was preceded in death by his parents and his beloved wife, Nancy (Nuss) Kearns after 32 years of marriage. Jim was a devout Catholic and participated in the bible study programs at Incarnation from their inception. He also attended a bi-weekly Cursillo men’s friendship group. He enjoyed playing golf and karaoke and was always ready for a road trip to see his Ohio Bobcats or Iowa State Cyclones.

A viewing will be held at Westbrock Funeral Home (5980 Bigger Rd.) this Thursday, 11/9 from 4-7pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be Friday, 11/10 at 11am at the Church of the Incarnation. Burial to follow at Calvary Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Church of the Incarnation, Centerville, OH 45459.