Paul Schnitzler

Paul Schnitzler was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jack Schnitzler and Mildred Schnitzler on July 20, 1936. He married Carol Schnitzler on January 18, 1959. They first lived in New Brunswick, NJ but spent most of their years together in Kendall Park, NJ where they raised three children – Ray, Robin and David. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1985.

A couple since 1986, Paul married Sandra Miniere on December 2, 2001 in California. Together, they lived in North Brunswick, NJ, Fremont, CA, and then – for the past 16 years - made their home in Wesley Chapel, FL.

Community was always important to Paul. For over 40 years, Paul was part of an ongoing men’s group that traversed the lives of the group of men from fathers of school-aged children to grandfather-hood and beyond. Started in the Princeton, NJ area, over the years these men supported each other through the many changes in their lives. Paul cherished this special group of men who “had his back,” undoubtedly knew his shortcomings, and loved him all the more. For many years, Paul also found community in summer stock, where he loved to be on stage, singing in musicals under the stars. More recently, Paul created a cousins’ club where cherished family members spent valuable time re-connecting.

For fourteen years, as an instructor at the University of South Florida, Paul taught engineers to become leaders in the Master of Engineering Management program within the Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Department. During his tenure he created popular, innovative courses which connected creativity, change, engineering, and leadership. His passion was to teach leaders to manage organizational change successfully. He left a legacy in his 2015 book, Lead Change Without Fear – using the YES I AM Solution. His retirement in May 2019 was bittersweet because in this role he found his calling as an engineer, leader, teacher, actor, guide and colleague, and found a home in the USF community.

He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1954 and received his BSEE, MSEE and PhD in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University.

In his engineering and management career, he worked for RCA Laboratories, Bell Laboratories, Time, Inc., Cadence Design Systems, Coastcom and ZMedia. One of his achievements led to the now ubiquitous use of fiber optics for undersea communications. Another was the creation of the first broadcast-quality CCD video camera which won a television Emmy! Paul’s first startup endeavor was building software to facilitate creativity in problem solving. His dedication to making a positive difference at every company means large and small companies have benefitted from his work.

He holds six granted patents, is widely published and has received many prestigious awards throughout his career: the IEEE Region 3 2009 Joseph M. Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator Award; the IEEE Florida Council 2008 Outstanding Engineering Educator; the 2019 IEEE Florida Council Outstanding Engineering Educator Award; and the 2016 Florida West Coast Section IEEE Engineer of the Year Award, to name a few. He was a long-term member of the IEEE professional organization and NYU Glee Club alumni association.

Paul enjoyed and loved teaching, platform speaking, sailing, choral singing, dancing, playing the piano, attending the theater and symphony, traveling and being with his family, friends, students and colleagues. Always happy to engage in a lively dialogue, he was incredibly smart about a wide variety of topics, but also easily admitted when true, “I’m not sure about that.”

Paul will be remembered as being kind, thoughtful, inspiring, gentle, happy, passionate, warm, and creative. His love of music, solving a good puzzle, telling puns, and sailing carry on in his children and grandchildren. He will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.

Paul Schnitzler is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Mildred Schnitzler. He is survived by his wife, Sandra Miniere; his son Ray Schnitzler (Piedmont, CA) and wife Judith Sachs, and their three sons—Joshua, Benjamin and Leo; his daughter, Robin Schnitzler (Madison, WI) and partner Michael Hopwood, and her two daughters—Sarah and Ariana Nathan; and his son David Schnitzler (South Orange, NJ) and wife Chloe Cogen; his ex-wife, Carol Schnitzler; his brother, Dr. Robert Schnitzler; and adult stepchildren Jacqi and Scott Maltby.

A private, in-person and virtual Celebration of Life Service will be held on January 24, at 12:00 PM EST at Blount & Curry Funeral Home, 3207 West Bearss Avenue, Tampa, FL. Rabbi Victoria Cohen will officiate.

Virtual service can be viewed by clicking this Zoom Meeting link: https://tinyurl.com/PaulSchnitzler. Live coverage will begin at 11:45 AM on January 24.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in his name to your favorite charity or one of his: JESPY House, South Orange, NJ https://jespyhouse.isecuresites.com/gifts/general-donation and local Public Radio.

The family of Paul Schnitzler wishes to extend our sincere thanks to his colleagues at USF who gave him an opportunity to do what he loved in the last years of his life.