Andrew Raymond Molnar

Dr. ANDREW R MOLNAR

August 1, 1929-October 22, 2020

 Dr. Andrew R. Molnar was born on August 1, 1929 to Anna and Andrew Molnar in Cleveland, Ohio. Andrew Molnar passed away Thursday, October 22, 2020 , at age 91.  He was a Program Director at the National Science Foundation (1970-1995) and supported research and development on advanced computer and telecommunications technologies and their applications in mathematics, science, and engineering education. He received “Pioneer in Educational Computing Award (1999) and “Outstanding Contribution Award: for contributions to the field of Educational Computing” (1986)

After graduating from Garfield Heights High School (1946), he served in the U.S. Marine Corps (1946-48, 1951-52) and attained the rank of Sergeant. He received BA (1954), MA (1956), PHD (1959) Degrees in Psychology from the University of Maryland. From 1956-57, he was employed at the Psychological Research Associates to do applied military research. He was a member of a team that studied and developed a test of small unit effectiveness for the Army and an Antisubmarine Warfare technique for the Navy (1954, 1957-58).  He went to work for Pratt and Whitney Aircraft and graduated from their Design Engineering Program at Hillyer College, University of Hartford 1956-57. In 1958-59. He was the Director of Research and Training for the development of military aircraft simulators at the Carmody Corporation in Buffalo NY. He also was a Human Factors Scientist at the System Development Corporation in Santa Monica, CA (1959-61) and was a member of a team that designed simulation studies on decision making displays on aspects of the SAC 465L Command and Control System. He was Senior Research Scientist at the Special Operations Research Office (SORO) at The American University and directed and participated in research on Undergrounds in Insurgencies and published several popular books on Counter Insurgency. From 1966-1970, he was the Director of the Division of Higher Education Research at the U.S. Office of Education and supervised the program for higher education research and coordinated all of the New Educational Media Programs for television and computing. He was a Program Director at the National Science Foundation from 1970 to 1995.

Dr. Molnar was an Adjunct Professor and taught at the University of Virginia (1962-1965) and taught Graduate Courses at the American University (1962-1969). He was the President and co-owner of Maple Springs Farm Equestrian Center in Woodbine Md. Boarding horses and specializing in teaching Eventing and Cross-Country riding, also sponsoring shows, clinics and summer camps (1983-1993)

He married his beloved wife Nancy A. Molnar on September 25, 1954 and raised a family of three children. He is survived by his wife and his sister Patricia Osborne (husband Terence Osborne) of Melbourne, Fl. He is also survived by his three children Steven A. Molnar (wife Dulli Tengeler) of Canton, NY, Dr. Lawrence A. Molnar (wife Cindy Molnar) of Grand Rapids, MI, and his Daughter Linda A. Dean(husband Michael Dean)  of Woodbine MD, and his five grandchildren Christopher Molnar, Sebastian Molnar, Kira Molnar, Nicholas Dean and Damon LaBette (wife Christina LaBette and daughter Autumn ) , nieces and nephews and devoted dog Lady.   The family will celebrate his wonderful life privately due to the ongoing pandemic. 

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