Halbert Brinson, professor of engineering science and mechanics at Virginia Tech from 1965 to 1988, passed away on February 16, 2026. He was 92.

Brinson received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from North Carolina State University in 1956 and 1961, respectively, his doctorate from Stanford in 1962, and an honorary doctorate from the University of Brussels in May 1986. He held several fellowships during his career from organizations including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Ford Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the Society for Experimental Mechanics. He was also president of the Society for Experimental Mechanics from 1978 to 1979.

He was a member of Virginia Tech’s faculty in engineering science and mechanics until 1988, when he left Virginia Tech to become director of the engineering division of the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Brinson was a leader among his colleagues while at Virginia Tech, steadily growing the university’s reputation in composite materials and adhesion studies. He established the Center for Adhesion Science in 1982 with funding from the Office of Naval Research, then expanded the group into the Center for Adhesive and Sealant Science (CASS) in 1987 with additional funding from the Adhesive and Sealant Council. The group was interdisciplinary, bringing together colleagues from both engineering and science.

Black and white photo of four men standing in front of a curtain for a meeting in the 1980s.
Center for Adhesion Science colleagues in the mid-1980s included (from left) chemistry professor Tom Ward, Hal Brinson, Office of Naval Research project mentor Larry Peebles, and chemistry professor Jim Wightman. Photo courtesy of the Macromolecules Innovation Institute.

One of Brinson’s students was David Dillard, now a professor in Virginia Tech’s engineering mechanics program within the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Brinson’s legacy is interwoven with Dillard’s own journey. Not only did Dillard complete his PhD under Brinson’s direction, he also holds a professorship sponsored by the same council that supported the expanded center, and continues to teach courses in viscoelasticity and adhesion science based on those pioneered by Brinson.

“Hal was a bit of a larger-than-life visionary,” Dillard said. “He created and enthusiastically pursued opportunities that brought significant attention to the university. He will be remembered as a charismatic leader whose resourceful grantsmanship, creativity, and organizational skills were important to Virginia Tech. He was always a very supportive mentor and advocate for his students.”

In 2004, the center founded by Brinson took on a new identity. Merging CASS and several other groups, Virgina Tech created the Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute, now known as the Macromolecules Innovation Institute. Today, that institute is led by Professor Robert Moore from the Department of Chemistry.

"As the original founder of the Center for Adhesive and Sealant Science at Virginia Tech, Hal Brinson firmly established a culture of collaborative innovation and a foundation of excellence in education at Virginia Tech,” Moore said. “Building on his vision, our current institute has grown to an organization with more than $17 million in resources and home to 80 affiliated faculty members from many disciplines across campus. Through Hal Brinson's skilled leadership and vigorous pursuit in support for our cause, Virginia Tech will long be recognized globally as a destination area for macromolecular science and engineering."

Brinson was recognized by his department’s student society as an outstanding professor in 1967 and was twice nominated for the College of Engineering Sporn Award for Teaching Excellence. He played a pivotal role in expanding the research footprint at Virginia Tech during a critical period in its history.  

His technical legacy also lives on in his daughter, L. Cate Brinson, the Sharon C and Harold L Yoh III Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at Duke University.  Hal was especially proud of their collaboration on a rare father-daughter engineering textbook, Polymer Engineering Science and Viscoelasticity, which is used as a resource in Virginia Tech’s graduate course entitled Polymer Viscoelasticity.

Funeral services were held Friday, February 20, in Fletcher, North Carolina. The full obituary from the Roanoke Times is available here.