Ainslie H. Drummond Jr. ’50 died on April 18, 2016, at Quality Healthcare in Fernandina Beach, Florida.

(The following was submitted by the family):

 
Ainslie was born on March 9, 1927, in New York, New York to Ainslie H. Drummond (Class of 1920) and Elizabeth (Laney) Drummond. He married Anne Thompson Codling on June 18, 1949, in College Point, New York.

As a young man Ainslie attended Concordia Preparatory School in Bronxville, New York, and then served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. Following his discharge in 1945, he entered Bowdoin College as a member of the Class of 1950 (self-named as “Bowdoin’s Biggest and Best”) and became a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. He earned a master of science degree in Education in 1957 and a master of arts degree in Biology in 1960 (both from Hofstra University) and a Certificate of Advanced Studies (Sciences) from Wesleyan University in 1962. From 1963 to 1966 he was a special lecturer in the Master of Arts in Teaching program at Wesleyan.

Ainslie, when asked of his profession, would say that he spent his life as an “educator” of both the younger and older generations. He taught junior and senior high school sciences from 1953 to 1961 – at Lakemont Academy in New York and then as head of the science department at St. Paul’s School in Garden City, New York. He then switched to writing and editing science textbooks for grades 7-12. He worked at American Education Publications as a writer and editor (1961-67), Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. (senior editor, 1966-67), Encyclopedia Britannica Educational Corp. (executive editor, 1967-68), D.C. Heath & Company (editor-in-chief, 1968-71), and Houghton Mifflin Company (1971-80). From 1980 until his retirement he wrote, lectured, and consulted on a free-lance basis, including an appointment as a lecturer on science communication at the Boston University School of Public Communication from 1981 to 1984.

He was the author of numerous professional and popular science articles, several trade books on sailing and boating, four high school chemistry unit texts, and two science books for young people. Ainslie was a member of the National Science Teachers Association, the National Association of Science Writers, the National Association of watch and Watch Collectors.

Ainslie was pre-deceased by his wife, Anne; his son, Ainslie H. Drummond III, a brother, Joseph Drummond, and his parents. He is survived by his daughter, Laura Prince Drummond Berube and her husband, Russell C. Berube; their children, Deborah Wiggins and her husband, Thomas; Dianne Curro and her husband, Anthony; Donald Ainslie Berube and his wife, Melissa; and three great-grandchildren, twins Aurelius and Titus Curro and Elizabeth Berube.