Matthew J. Wozniak Jr. ’63

Matthew J. Wozniak Jr. ’63, Ph.D., died March 16 at his home in Tucson, Arizona, from complications of dementia and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Matt was born and raised in Hammond, Indiana, and attended George Rogers Clark High School, where he was student body president and captain of the football team. At Dartmouth he majored in physics and was a brother of Phi Gamma Delta. He was an avid bowler and told the story of being called in by the dean, who congratulated him on his bowling score and then asked why he was bowling at a time when he was supposed to be in the physics lab. After Dartmouth he met and married Lois. Matt did two years of postdoctoral work at the University of Wisconsin. His lab was bombed in 1970 by anti-Vietnam War demonstrators and one of his colleagues was killed. Matt and Lois moved to Arizona, where he completed an M.S. and a Ph.D. in physics. He taught physics at Mesa Community College and Scottsdale Community College until his retirement in 2004. He received many letters, often years later, from students thanking him for being an inspirational teacher and helping them in their careers. His sons, Matt and Lance, followed Matt into the engineering field. Matt is survived by Lois, his wife of 55 years, two sons, daughter Elaine, and five grandchildren.