Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT) President Dr. David Woodall died Monday of an apparent heart attack.

“This is a devastating day for us all in the Lake Washington community,” said LWIT board of trustees chair Bruce J. Reid in a press release. “David was a kind-hearted, friendly man, excited about our college, its faculty, its staff and above all, its students. He was dedicated to transforming the college into a world-class polytechnic institute and his vision is an inspiration we shall aspire to keep alive as we move forward. All of our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and their family.”

Added Terry Byington, LWIT executive director for college advancement: “He loved spending time with the students. He was very smart and a very shy kind of guy. He was quiet and kind, but he had a core of steel.”

Byington added that Woodall was driven, always moving forward and wanted to add five more baccalaureate degrees at LWIT in five years.

Woodall was 67 and joined LWIT on Jan. 1, 2011 as interim president, replacing retiring president Dr. Sharon McGavick. The LWIT board named him the eighth president of the college on Nov. 30, 2011. Before coming to LWIT, Woodall served more than seven years with the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT). At OIT he served as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs and later acting president before being named director of OIT Seattle in 2009.

Prior to OIT, Woodall taught and served in academic administration at the University of New Mexico, University of Idaho, University of Alaska-Fairbanks and the University of Rochester.

Woodall served as a visiting scientist for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Space, a visiting faculty member at Universidad Nacional Autonoma in Mexico City, a visiting staff member at Los Alamos National Laboratory and as a consultant for several U.S. companies. He authored one book, 46 journal articles and publications and more than two dozen presentations to groups ranging from U.S. House subcommittees and state legislators to departmental seminar attendees.

The LWIT board has begun the process to identify an acting president for the college and maintains dedicated to the college’s forward momentum and leadership.

Woodall’s dry wit and penchant for buying heaps of Girl Scout cookies from his nieces and granddaughter and filling the faculty office’s shelves with the treats are two traits that Byington will miss about her colleague and friend, who was a Redmond Rotarian.

Faculty members visited campus on Tuesday and placed flowers in his office. Classes will resume on Sept. 24.