Reginald Glennis Mitchiner, a professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, died September 5, 2021. He was born in Durham, North Carolina on June 7, 1944.

After attending Hillside High in Durham, he earned his bachelor’s degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technology, a Master’s degree from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.

Mitchiner taught for more than 20 years at Virginia Tech, working with more than 7,000 students and pioneering technology across the campus. His mentorship of a student group yielded the first U.S. patent in Virginia Tech history awarded to such a group. He also helped to establish the Computer-Aided Engineering Design Program, and was a member of the the Virginia Tech College of Engineering committee for the personal computer initiative, pressing the expansion of computers available to students in the late 1980s.

He aided several students in pursuit of their degree. During his tenure, he mentored more than 40 students pursuing master’s degrees, and two doctoral students.

Public viewing will be held Friday, September 10, 2021, from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. with the family receiving friends from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Hamlar-Curtis Funeral Home & Crematory.

A graveside service and interment will be held 12 noon Monday, September 13, 2021, at the Williams Family Memorial Gardens Cemetery on Alstonville Road, Apex, North Carolina.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to an organization of your choice or to Price Memorial AME Zion Church, P.O. Box 6407, Roanoke, VA 24017. Condolences may also be sent through Hamlar-Curtis Funeral Home.