Dr. Peter M. Bainum, (1938 - 2020) - ForeverMissed.com Online Memorials

82 years old
Born on February 4, 1938
Passed away on April 3, 2020 in Maryland, United States

Thank you for visiting this memorial page for Dr. Peter M. Bainum, who passed away on April 3, 2020. Due to "Stay-At-Home" orders and other public safety constraints throughout the Washington DC region, the Bainum family will hold a more traditional in person memorial service at a future date.

In the meantime, we invite you to use this Online Memorial to learn more about Peter, share stories and anecdotes, and to help celebrate his life and legacy. If desired, you may also leave a public tribute using the Leave a Tribute form at the bottom of the page. (Note: The "Public Tribute" is a "public post" on this page, and is roughly-similar to signing the Guest Book for an in person event). The Bainum Family will also continue to add new photos or other content as time permits.

We have also started an Optional "Opt In" Form for those interested in attending an in person memorial service at a future date. The Form also allows visitors to send a private message(s) to Family Members.

Here's the Optional Form: https://ritetechllc-jqxqk.formstack.com/forms/cont...

The Bainum Family also suggests that in lieu of sending flowers etc. - for those visitors who wish to do so - perhaps please consider giving a small donation to either Suburban Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine, to the Alzheimer's Association, or to any of Howard University's or the Smithsonian Institution's various giving funds or endowments. Some links to sample charities are provided at the bottom of this Memorial, and additional ones will be added as time permits.

Thank you for visiting/reading. We look forward to further celebrations of his life and in person fellowship with everyone, at a future event.

-- The Bainum Family

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Peter passed away on April 3, 2020. He is survived by his wife of 51+ years, Carmen C., as well as by his son Dave, Dave's wife Selene, and Peter's sister, Dr. Mibs (Mary). Peter enjoyed baseball, traveling the world, walking the family dog, great food and stimulating conversations - and of course - all things Aerospace-related.

After receiving his his PhD from the Catholic University of America in 1967, Dr. Bainum dedicated the majority of his professional career at Howard University, retiring as a Professor Emeritus, after many years of teaching and advancing aerospace research. After retiring from Howard University, Peter was honored to be selected as one of the inaugural docents at the grand opening of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the National Air and Space Museum in 2003. He delighted in conducting museum tours, while continuing to share his love and passion of Aerospace to future generations.

Dr. Bainum was a dedicated member of the American Astronautical Society, winning their prestigious Dirk Brouwer Award in 1989. Acting as their Director of International Programs in the mid-1980's, Dr. Bainum was an integral part of the team that cultivated ties with the international space community.

**

Some suggested Charities to donate to (Last Updated 4/6/20 11:49AM ET):

Alzheimer's Foundation of America: https://alzfdn.org/support-us/donate/

COVID-19 Solidarity Response for WHO: https://covid19responsefund.org/

Tributes

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April 3

Siempre en nuestro corazón querido Peter, recordando su don de gentes, su caballerosidad, su amor por la academia, su devoción y formación para sus estudiantes, su rectitud, profesionalismo y sabiduría. Gracias por haber sido tan especial, amable y cordial con toda la familia de Cecilia. Descansa en paz.

February 5, 2023

Siempre en nuestros corazones y recordando sus aportes profesionales y académicos, su voluntariado en el Museo,pero sobre todo su grandeza de ser humano. Descansa en paz. febrero 5 de 2023

February 4, 2022

Hoy y siempre recordando al caballero de finos modales , al ilustre profesional, al maestro por vocación, pero lo más hermoso a un maravilloso ser humano que siempre en todos los campos dio lo mejor de sí . Gracias por todo su legado y por abrirnos el corazón y su hogar. PAZ en su tumba. GRACIAS POR TODO. MARTHA GONZALEZ PEREZ

April 3, 2021

PETER dejo muchas huellas, su profesionalismo, su integridad,, honestidad, su devoción por la academia y sus alumnos, pero lo más hermoso su grandeza humana. GRACIAS POR SER COMO FUE.
Un abrazo de solidaridad y cariño para Cecilia, David y Selene. Siempre en nuestros recuerdos y corazón.

February 4, 2021

Happy Birthday, Dr. Bainum.

your student, Dr. Aprille Ericsson

October 9, 2020

Peter was a friend and colleague at heart. He was my Ph.D. and postdoctoral advisor, becoming my research colleague for almost 20 years. Over the years, our relationship has developed into friendship, admiration and deep respect. He was one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. I enjoyed sharing with him two decades of my life as a student, as a professional and as a friend. For me he was like that older brother who takes care of you, who protects you. In the dozens of scientific events in which we participated together around the world, he rarely missed meetings, extremely organized, attentive and helpful to everyone.

June 23, 2020

I was a Doctoral student of Professor Peter M. Bainum (1977-1982) and also worked as a colleague in the Mechanical Engineering department of Howard University. I accompanied him to many conferences and to NASA langley center in Hampton, Virginia for presentations. He is highly disciplined and we used to meet without fail once every week during my student days. I miss him. I published few papers with Prof. Bainum. I talked to him year ago and I was looking forward to talking him many more times. Unusual times we are going through around the world and I can not imagine it took Prof. Bainum away from us. RIP.

April 27, 2020

Dr. Bainum's contributions to Astronautics will not be forgotten. In addition to the many positions he held with AAS and IAC he left a legacy of students that he guided through their graduate studies in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Option. He was one of the largest contributors to the pool of PhD's in Engineering at Howard University. As his first female Ph.D. student, I will be forever in his debt for his training and honing of my technical presentation skills, which help to propel my winning of several student technical presentation awards. At Howard University, he was joking known as the International Traveler. It was due to his insistence that I traveled and presented at several International Aerospace/Engineering conferences. One of my favorite memories was during the NASA Goddard Research Symposium when he shared his pride in the first time he was co-chairing a technical session with one of his students, me, Dr. Aprille Ericsson.

April 20, 2020

Sin dejar a un lado la brillante carrera profesional de PETER BAINUM quiero resaltar , sus finos modales y su calidad humana.

A las tías ZOILA, MARINA, a mi madre y a mí nos abrió siempre las puertas de su hogar y de su corazón. Con todo esmero y paciencia planeaba las excursiones y con detalle y amor nos llevaba a recorrer los sitios de interés, y nos enseñaba la historia del país y en especial lo que tenía que ver con su profesión.

En diciembre de 1981, el 24 de diciembre, donde convocaba a sus alumnos y a sus amigos , a la cena de Navidad llegamos más tarde de lo que habíamos prometido, porque nos quedamos viendo en el zoológico como " se bañaban los hipopotamos".

Nueva York lo conocimos en su compañía , descubriendo hermosos lugares y nos deleitamos asistiendo al teatro.

De cada viaje que hacia siempre había un lindo detalle para nosotras.

Al conmemorarse la llegada del hombre a la luna, nos fuimos a Bostón a una espectáculo hermoso. Nos alojamos en el hotel donde podía divisar una de las universidades donde adelantó estudios y nos recreamos mirando los libros en la biblioteca de la universidad de Harbart

Fue muy cordial y amable con toda la familia en Colombia, de una solidaridad sin limites, la tía Zoila gozó de todo su aprecio y consideración como si fuera una segunda madre.

En mis momentos de enfermedad, siempre recibí una voz de aliento y de cariño.

Faltarían muchas páginas para recordar su grandeza humana. Hoy y siempre no nos queda sino un agradecimiento por ser como fue. Duele mucho su ausencia, pero quedan maravillosos, muchas enseñanzas, recuerdos y tiempos compartidos.

Acompañamos de todo corazón a Cecilia, David y Selene quienes gozaron de la compañía del mejor esposo, padre, suegro,y de un hombre honesto, estudioso, y un ser humano sin igual

PAZ EN SU TUMBA.

April 20, 2020

I had many interactions with Peter at various professional aerospace meetings. He was always kind and a great person for me to talk with. He will be missed.

April 20, 2020

A couple of weeks ago, my colleague and friend Peter Bainum succumbed to Covid-19 at age 82. I had known Peter since I joined the M.E. Department at Howard some 43 years ago. In the past several years, I have said good-bye to some friends and family. That is normal at this age, but to do so at the hands of a pandemic is not normal. I am still trying to wrap my head around it. My condolences to his wife Cecilia, his son David and daughter-in-law Celine.

Over the years, Peter and I traveled together to many conferences in the US and abroad. I remember spending New Year’s Eve with him in the Sheraton hotel in New Delhi some forty yars ago. We started talking to several young Canadian men. After several drinks they began boasting about their recent female conquests. Peter then questioned why then were they spending New Year’s Eve with a couple of professors-a dozen or so years their senior. Together, we also attended conferences in Rio, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, San Juan and countless domestic cities. Peter loved to travel, to meet all of the world’s different people and to partake of their customs and culture.

When we were alone Peter would enjoy discussing a wide variety of subjects - our families, the department, the University, our students, economics, philosophy, teaching and of course retirement. Despite being in Washington DC, politics were usually limited to university politics. He rarely spoke negatively about others. The most negative thing I heard him ever say about another was that "he was not my favorite person either".

I will always remember the annual Christmas Eve parties Peter and Cecilia hosted largely for his current and former graduate students as well as others doing research under his direction. Those evenings were fun and I looked forward to them. Peter enjoyed the departmental lunches our faculty held at the end of each semester. If he missed one it was certainly because he was travelling.

And finally, Peter was by far the most productive person in our department in terms of research papers, research funding and, most importantly, successful master’s and doctoral students. He was the aerospace expert, one of the very few given the honor of Distinguished Professor, and as several of his colleagues overseas told me “he put Howard University on the map”. He will be missed.

April 19, 2020

I know Peter from our time together as volunteer docents at the Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum (NASM). His knowledge and expertise made the many tours he gave a special experience for our visitors. Even when he could no longer walk well enough to give tours he continued to be a vital part of our docent team by doing behind-the scenes work. I was fortunate in being able to see him one last time last year when a group from his nursing home came to take a tour of the Udvar-Hazy Center. He is missed by all who knew him.

Steve Reynolds
NASM Docent Council, Chairperson

April 18, 2020

Peter was my friend and colleague and I enjoyed working with such an accomplished and dedicated educator. His association with the American Astronautical Society began in the 1950's and he served in many positions over the years. You couldn't ask for a more involved member. He rarely missed Board meetings and could always be counted on to participate in both domestic and international conferences and meetings. His foreign connections were impressive and thanks to him we developed long-lasting relationships with space professionals in China and Japan. I will particularly remember Peter's dry wit and how good it felt when I could make him laugh - or at least get a short chuckle. I will miss Peter, but his contributions to the scientific community and what he gave his students will live on.

April 11, 2020

Dear Cecilia, David and Selene, we would like to give our condolences and tribute to Peter who was a very intelligent and humanitarian person, excellent husband and father as well as Doctor with a memorable career. Rest in peace. Juan Guillermo and Maria Victoria

Apreciados Cecilia, David y Selene, queremos enviarles nuestras condolencias y reconocimiento a Peter quien fue una persona inteligente y humanitaria, excelente esposo y padre, así como un Doctor con una destacada carrera. Descanse en paz. Juan Guillermo y María Victoria

April 11, 2020

Sending our most sincere condolences from the Folloder family in Houston, Texas. We share a cousins search from family in New York circa 1900s. We share in your grief.

Gail Leinkram Folloder great niece (in-law) of Nettie Leinkram

April 7, 2020

Amazing life, amazing career.
Rest in peace!

April 5, 2020

We miss you, Dad. Although we also have no doubt that wherever in the Universe you now are and regardless of what vehicle(s) you're using for your latest journey - you are surely enjoying the ride and the view, while also doing all of the right thing(s) for all concerned along the way. Rest in Peace.

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April 3

February 5, 2023

Siempre en nuestros corazones y recordando sus aportes profesionales y académicos, su voluntariado en el Museo,pero sobre todo su grandeza de ser humano. Descansa en paz. febrero 5 de 2023

February 4, 2022

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Gallery

Howard University Faculty, Graduate Students with Dr. Bainums retirement dinner

Howard University Faculty, students and family with Dr. Bainums at his retirement dinner

Howard University Faculty and Visiting Professors with Dr. Bainums at his retirement dinner

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Friend from AAS

April 10, 2020

I knew Peter from the many years I worked as part of the administrative staff of the American Astronautical Society (AAS). And I do mean many years! Peter held many roles and positions in the AAS and I was glad to be part of helping him in all of his endeavors. He was a wonderful gentleman and I enjoyed my association with him. I especially remember some of the IAF meetings and how gracious Peter was in hosting this event.

My condolences to Cecilia, whom I had the pleasure of meeting on several occasions, and to his son David.

Carolyn Plaisance

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