John Lloyd Gainer, emeritus professor of chemical engineering at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, died Monday, July 28, 2025. Professor Gainer was a revered researcher and mentor who served on the chemical engineering faculty from 1966 to 2005.
He was born in Grafton, West Virginia, on July 19, 1938, the son of Vincent and Dora Gainer. He grew up in Tunnelton, West Virginia, attending local public schools, where his parents both taught, graduating from Tunnelton High School in 1956. He then earned three college degrees in chemical engineering from West Virginia University (B.S. 1960), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.S. 1961) and the University of Delaware (Ph.D. 1964).
He then worked for the Union Carbide Silicones Division in Tonawanda, New York, until 1966, when he moved to Charlottesville to join the chemical engineering faculty at UVA. There, he and his students formed lifelong friendships.
In recognition of his service and teaching, the UVA Alumni Association awarded him its Distinguished Professor Award in 1981. In 1992 he was honored with the UVA School of Engineering and Applied Science’s Mac Wade Award for outstanding service. These were followed later by the establishment of the John L. Gainer Endowment Fund in Chemical Engineering.
Gainer married Susan Eleanor Smith of Indiana, Pennsylvania, on Jan. 3, 1981. They raised their sons, Jamie and David, in Charlottesville, where John Gainer served for a decade on the advisory committee for the gifted students’ program in the public schools. John also spent sabbaticals in Stockholm, Sweden, at the Karolinska Institute and in Cheshire, England, at ICI Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca). These were to prepare him for a second career as a co-founder of Diffusion Pharmaceuticals Inc. Retiring from UVA in 2005, he later served as the chief scientific officer of Diffusion until resigning in 2020. He was also the inventor of the company’s product, trans sodium crocetinate, or TSC, and received numerous United States patents in the pharmaceutical field.
Survivors include his wife of 44 years, Susan Smith Gainer of Charlottesville, and sons James Samuel Gainer (Julie Jones) and David Vincent Gainer (Jaclyn Taub), both living in California, as well as grandchildren Gabriel, Oliver and Emelia Gainer.
Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 1, at Hill and Wood Funeral Home, Charlottesville Chapel, 201 N. 1st St. in Charlottesville. Mass will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 2, at St. Thomas Aquinas, 401 Alderman Road, Charlottesville, followed by a graveside service at the UVA Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to Book Baskets, 105 Whetstone Place, Charlottesville, VA 22901 or to a charity of your choice. For addition on the funeral and visiting hours please see the obituary at hillandwood.com.