OSU names laboratory after Youngstown native

Michael Chaszeyka
contributed $250,000 to
the new facility.

YOUNGSTOWN — Ohio State University has named a laboratory in its Mechanical Engineering Building after a former Youngstown man.

Michael A. Chaszeyka, who now lives in Western Springs, Ill., contributed $250,000 to the new thermodynamics lab which has been named the Michael A. Chaszeyka Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics Laboratory.

The lab has drawn international attention through its research achievements in plasma dynamics and lasers.

Chaszeyka, who was born in Youngstown in 1920, is a 1943 graduate of Ohio State.

He is a veteran of World War II and the Korean War and retired from the Navy Reserve with the ranks of lieutenant commander in 1980.

His career included science research positions with the Armour Research Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.

He said he made the contribution to Ohio State in support of the lab’s work under the direction of J. William Rich, professor emeritus in mechanical engineering.

Chaszeyka’s family moved from Youngstown to Springfield Township in 1927 and he later graduated from Springfield Local High School. He worked at Republic Steel in Youngstown while attending college.

Upon graduation from Ohio State, he entered the Navy as an ensign and spent most of his World War II time at sea in the Pacific.

He was released from active duty in 1946 but recalled in 1951 to serve for two years in the Korean War.

In 2000, he founded a chapter of the Torch Club, an organization created to develop camaraderie among professionals from different occupations.

His interests include behavioral science, economics, sociopolitical affairs, technology and world history.