Former Hudson Valley Community College president and RPI alumnus Joseph J. Bulmer died Friday at the age of 76.

After graduating from Troy's LaSalle Institute in 1947, he earned his bachelor's degree from RPI in 1951, a master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1955, and a Ph.D. from RPI in 1966. He served as an Army instructor, an employee of the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, and an adjunct professor for both RPI and Union College before being appointed HVCC president in 1979. He retired from that post in 1996.

During his tenure at HVCC, he saw a period of great expansion for the school. Among his accomplishments were the constructions of the McDonough Sports Complex and the building bearing his name, the Bulmer Telecommunications Center. He also saw a 43 percent increase in enrollment—from 7,000 to 10,000 students—as well as the proliferation of computer technology on campus.

Funeral services were held yesterday at the Sacred Heart Church in Troy.