Naim Zaki Azer, age 92 of Manhattan, died November 17th, 2019. He was born July 20th, 1927 in Alexandria, Egypt, the son of Zaki Azer and Victoria Eskander.
Naim was a professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at Kansas State University. He earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at the University of Alexandria (Egypt) before coming to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to study on a Fulbright grant. At the University of Illinois, he received a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1958. In the spring of 1959, he taught in the mechanical engineering Department at Kansas State University before returning to Egypt to serve on the faculty at the University of Alexandria for five years. He returned to Kansas State University as a professor in 1964, and he remained on the faculty until his retirement in 1993. Throughout his career, he made seminal research contributions in the fields of human comfort, augmented heat transfer, and environmental engineering.
During his first semester at the University of Illinois, he met his future bride, Beverly Jean Peterson, at a University YMCA party. Beverly was on the University of Illinois Library Staff in the Art and Architecture Library. They married on May 25, 1961 in Alexandria, Egypt and were married for 56 years before her death in 2017.
Survivors include a daughter, Mona Musil, and her husband Jim, of Blue Rapids, KS; a son, Magdi Azer, and his wife, Kaylynn, of Champaign, IL; five grandchildren, Nicolas Azer (28, Eleanor Musil (26, Charles Musil (24) and his wife, Katie, Ryan Azer (22, and Hannah Musil (18); a nephew, Mounir El-Aasar, and his wife, Manal, and their daughter, Mary; as well as numerous cousins, nephews and nieces in Egypt and Canada.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, John and William; and three sisters, Ida, Angel, and Samira.
In addition to teaching and research, he had three passions: his faith, his family, and travel. Throughout his life, he visited numerous countries around the world and historical sites in the United States and Canada. He was a member of the First Lutheran Church for the past 44 years, where he served on the church council.
The family will receive friends from 7-8 p.m. on Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home.
Funeral services will be at 1:30 p.m. on November 21, 2019 at the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, with interment to follow at Sunrise Cemetery in Manhattan.
Memorials can be made to First Lutheran Church, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, or Billy Graham Evangelical Association. Contributions may be left in care of the Yorgensen-Meloan-Londeen Funeral Home, 1616 Poyntz Avenue, Manhattan, KS 66502.