A former “Professor of the Year” at Columbia University who made it his life’s work treating people with chemical dependency was found dead of an alcohol-related death, sources said Wednesday.

Donald McVinney, 66, was discovered Tuesday evening during a wellness check at his apartment on West 23rd Street in Manhattan. There were no signs of foul play. Empty wine bottles were found strewn around the tiny apartment where he lived alone, sources said.

The Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the cause of death as “chronic alcoholism,” and noted that hypertensive cardiovascular disease also contributed.

McVinney, who wrote the book “Chemical Dependency Treatment: Innovative Group Approaches,” had worked at Harlem United and at Columbia’s School of Social Work, where he taught classes about treating alcoholism and substance abuse. He was named outstanding professor of the year in 1999, and was national director of education and training at the Harm Reduction Coalition in New York City, according to Columbia’s website.

His brother, Barry McVinney, who spoke with cops, said alcohol was apparently a factor in his death — a surprise to him because he had thought his brother had left his substance abuse problems behind.

“This has totally floored me,” Barry McVinney said. “He hadn’t been a drinker or drug user, as far as I know, for decades.”

“We don’t really know the cause of death yet, but it certainly points to alcohol related,” he added.

He said his brother was struggling financially and may have lost a job recently without telling anybody.

Donald McVinney, who lived in the city for much of his life, worked in the art world early in his career and in the 1970s even did some work for Andy Warhol, his brother said. He then shifted to social work and education.

“He did many different things in his life,” Barry McVinney said. “He loved beauty and art and design. But it seemed like his calling eventually was to help others, to teach people through social work how to help other people, specifically with addiction.”