April 25, 2020, James Walter Banham, beloved husband, father, and grandfather, passed away of natural causes at the age of 90.
James spent most of his career working as a mechanical engineer for the Naval Ship Systems Engineering Station in Philadelphia working to develop improved control systems with the Navy’s Boiler and Turbine Laboratory. He taught in the Evening College at Drexel until 1984 when James joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics as Associate Department Head first under Richard Mortimer and later Shlomo Carmi until retiring in 1993. As Associate Head James played an integral role in merging Evening College programs with the department’s regular coursework in order to meet accreditation standards. In addition to his regular teaching duties and role as Associate Head, James also managed the department’s Professional Engineer Review program and Engineer-in-Training Review program.
For many years MEM students benefited from the "engineering wisdom" of James Banham.
James was an active enthusiast for technological progress, always dabbling with new software or reading about engineering advancements. He relished classical music and especially opera, and delighted in word games, puzzles, and composing poems to celebrate every occasion. Combining his love of engineering with his expert carpentry skills, James championed the movement toward renewable energy in the early ‘80s by building a special addition onto the family home to house a solar energy heating system of his own design.
S. Herbert Raynes Professor Harry G. Kwatny recalls “I first met (James) when as a Drexel sophomore I obtained a coop job at the U S Navy’s Boiler and Turbine Lab. I was assigned to his group which, at that time, was evaluating new steam boiler control systems. That’s what sparked my interest in control systems. I ultimately spent two 6 month coop periods at NBTL. I remember, during a controller test at 1 or 2 am, tumbling down stairs from my station at the top of a boiler to alert him of impending disaster, when I observed the drum water level vanish. In 1958 (59?) I went with his group to the Brooklyn Navy Yard where we participated in the dock trials of the newly constructed USS Independence. During a break we did a walkthrough of the new USS Nautilus (the first nuclear powered sub) a few slips down from the Independence. James Banham was one of the senior engineers at NBTL that encouraged and supported my application for a Navy scholarship which I did receive. This was a very special, important and formative period in my life in which Jim played a key role. Of course I was delighted decades later, when I was now a Professor in MEM, he retired from the Navy and came to our department. I was sad, but happy for him, when he retired. Thank you Jim, for what you gave to me.”
James W. Banham was born on Oct. 20, 1929, to parents James and Edith in Philadelphia, PA. He attended the Westtown School and earned a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Penn State. An ardent thespian and singer, James was for many years a member of the Gilbert and Sullivan performing troupe, The Rose Valley Chorus. It was in this group he met his wife Eileen, and they were married in 1958. They had four children and established an annual family tradition of spending a week at the shore in Cape May Point, NJ.
After retirement, James and Eileen moved to San Diego in 2002. James is survived by his wife Eileen, his brother Robert, children Elizabeth (David), Jeff (Donna), Mark (Sue) and Cally, and by his grandchildren Benjamin, Alex, and Katie. Should friends desire, gifts in his memory be made to the College of Engineering at Drexel University in memory of Prof. James W. Banham (https://giving.drexel.edu).