Troy – Dr. Charles “Chuck” Boylen died Thursday, February 13 at home after an arduous battle with pancreatic cancer. His passing was peaceful, and surrounded by his family. He was 82. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sons C. Brent (Cindi) Boylen, Mark (Sara) Boylen, sister DeAnna Buczynski, brother Jeff Boylen as well as nieces and nephews and their families. He was predeceased by his parents Charles Boylen and Mary (Conderi) Martin. Chuck was raised in West Virginia and Indiana.

He was educated at Indiana University (BS) and the University of Wisconsin (Madison) (PhD). Both degrees were in microbiology. He first worked at NASA’s Ames Research Center in the life detection laboratory analyzing moon rocks from the first lunar landing.

After two summers in Yellowstone National Park researching the microbiology of the hot springs and rivers, he moved to Troy, NY where he became a professor of Biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research included acid rain in the Adirondacks and the environmental studies of Lake George. There, Chuck was the director of the Darrin Fresh Water Institute which is RPI’s field station. His long-term study led to IBM’s using Lake George as America’s first “Smart Lake”. Over his long career he was active in many scientific organizations for Microbiology and Environmental Sciences as well as lake and water sciences.

One of his great loves was teaching, both in the classroom and mentoring higher degree studies. He is affectionately known as “Dr. B” by his ex-students, and particularly the Theta Xi fraternity where he was the academic advisor. The brothers inducted him as an adult Brother, which he cherished. He was recently visited by many of those students. The awards he received that he loved most were RPI’s Darrin Counseling Award and the RPI Alumni Association’s Teacher of the Year award.

Chuck was also very artistic and created many stained-glass windows and hangings as one of his major hobbies. He also loved art, history, and travelling everywhere with his wife.

A celebration of life will be held on what would have been his 83rd birthday, Saturday, March 29th, at the RPI Chapel and Cultural Center (2125 Burdett Ave, Troy, NY 12180) with a service at 11AM and a visitation following until 2:30PM. All who knew him are welcome.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Hope Lodge, NYC of the American Cancer Society would honor his memory (132 W 32nd Street, New York, NY 1001) or the Charity of your choice.