Padavan attended
Newtown High School in
Elmhurst, New York. He received his undergraduate degree in
electrical engineering from
Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1956, and went on to receive an
M.B.A. from
New York University in 1963. Between 1955 and 1968, he worked as an engineer at Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Padavan spent 30 years as a reserve member of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, attaining the rank of
colonel. During his military career, Padavan served as commanding officer of the 411th Engineer Brigade and chief of staff, 77th ARCOM, headquarters for New York State's Army Reserve. He was a graduate of the
United States Army Command and General Staff College and completed the Defense Strategy Course. In 1968, Padavan was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the New York City Department of Buildings, a position in which he remained until his election to the State Senate in 1972, in which he defeated incumbent senator
Murray Schwartz. He was a member of the
New York State Senate from 1973 to 2010. Padavan died October 8, 2018, at
New York–Presbyterian Hospital. He was 83. ==See also==