The Troy University family lost another well-respected faculty member on Wednesday, Jan. 18.

Dr. David C. Griffin, associate professor of geomatics, died at UAB Hospital after an illness. Services were held on Saturday in Killen, Ala. He was buried by family and friends at Tri-cities Memorial Gardens in Florence.

“Dr. Griffin was a positive force in the lives of our student and a key contributor to our geomatics program,” said Dr. Steven Taylor, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “We had hoped that he would be back in Fall, but sadly this will not be the case.  He will be missed.”

“We have a lost a dedicated colleague who valued students, teaching and the department’s mission. He was always supportive of our department, college and University,” said Dr. Steve Ramroop, who directs the Surveying and Geomatics Sciences Program.

Griffin joined the faculty in 2010. He earned the Ph.D. in civil engineering at the University of Alabama in 1999, after having completed his undergraduate studies in groundwater hydraulics and hydrology, and the master’s degree in environmental engineering at University of Alabama at Birmingham. He had previously completed two associate’s degrees at Calhoun Community College.

Griffin was devoted to his students and the Surveying and Geomatics Sciences Program, said Diane Porter, Chair of the Department of Mathmatics and Geomatics.

“He gave students the opportunities to meet and learn from professionals through involvement with the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors and served as student chapter advisor,” Porter said. “He also was the faculty mentor to the student team who won First Place at the National Society of Professional Surveyors student competition in 2011. Dr. Griffin was a valued member of the Department of Mathematics and Geomatics and he will be greatly missed by all his friends, colleagues and students in our department and throughout the university.”

Griffin was a licensed engineer and a licensed land surveyor, and was active in the Alabama Society of Professional Land Surveyors and the Alabama Society of Professional Engineers. He published numerous papers in the area of “History of Land Surveying,” and held many works associated with engineering and surveying.

An avid cyclist, amateur astronomer and computer programmer, Griffin had served as advisor to the student chapter of ASPLS at TROY.

“Dr. Griffin’s legacy will continue to live on, through our Surveying and Geomatics Sciences Program,” Ramroop said. “He was very passionate about geomatics and has contributed a great deal, by imparting his tremendous knowledge and experience to our students in all of his classes and at our meetings.”

“The six-plus years he has been with us here at Troy University will never, ever be forgotten because he was part of our team that shared a common vision of the geomatics profession. He will be sadly missed,” he added.

The family, which includes his mother, Dalphner J. Harms and sisters Marion Thornton, Connie Harden, Gail Williams and Janet Mink, have asked that memorial donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or the American Cancer Society. Elkins Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.