Steven K. Atiyah

February 18, 2022

Steven Khalil Atiyah (1930-2022) was born to Lebanese parents who were merchants and importers in Sierra Leonne. At the age of five, his parents sent their three children to live with their grandparents in Lebanon. He thrived in school as a child and attended a Presbyterian high school in Lebanon. As a teenager he came to the U.S.A. to study engineering. He received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering with an emphasis in Petroleum Refining at Tulsa University, a Master of Science in Theoretical and Applied Mathematics at Tulsa University, and a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education at University of Oklahoma. Additional course work was completed at American University of Beirut, Louisiana State University and University of Colorado. He became a U.S. citizen in the early seventies. He taught mathematics at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia for 36 years. He also taught part-time for thirty years at Tidewater Community College while teaching at Old Dominion University. He taught at the Chesapeake, Norfolk and Portsmouth campuses of T.C.C. He is the author of eight mathematics books designed for use at the college and university level. Before his teaching career at Old Dominion University he worked as a petroleum refining engineer in Lebanon and in France. Between his Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree he also worked in his parents’ import-export business for several years. He and his wife traveled for pleasure throughout the entire United States and Canada and many countries world-wide. He spoke English, Arabic and French and some German. At the age of 91 he was teaching himself Spanish. He loved people and sought to understand and appreciate different cultures. He was a very kind and caring person and was very interested in the welfare and success of his students. He will be missed by his family, friends and many others. He is survived by his wife of forty-seven years, Patricia S. Atiyah, of Portsmouth, Virginia and brothers-in-law and sisters- in- law; Arles and Louise Pease of Kingsport, Tennessee; Judy Jones of Chesapeake, Virginia, and Ray Gentry of Kingsport, Tennessee and many nephews and nieces. He was an active member of Green Acres Presbyterian Church in Portsmouth, Virginia. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Green Acres Presbyterian Church. The family will receive friends at the church 45 mins. prior to the service on Wednesday.