Paul William Zitzewitz (June 5, 1942 - April 30, 2013)

April 30, 2013

AAPT joins the University of Michigan-Dearborn and the Michigan Section of AAPT in honoring the lifetime contributions of Paul W. Zitzewitz to the physics education community, the Dearborn arts community, and his family.

Paul earned his B.A. degree in physics from Carleton College in 1964, and his A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Harvard University in 1965 and 1970, respectively, where he did research on the atomic hydrogen maser with Nobel Laureate Norman Ramsey.  Between 1970 and 1973, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Western Ontario, and then a senior scientist at Corning Glass Works.  He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan-Dearborn as an assistant professor of physics in 1973, becoming associate professor in 1978 and professor in 1983. He was appointed Professor of Science Education in 2004. Within the Dearborn campus, he served as Chair of the Department of Natural Sciences and Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters.

In collaboration with colleagues at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Paul's later research focused on positrons and positronium, and in particular, precision measurements of the decay rate of orthopositronium. During his long career, he taught most of the courses in the physics curriculum and also made important contributions in upper-division laboratory courses, electronics courses and the advanced laboratory.  He also reformed both the pedagogy and laboratories of the introductory calculus—based mechanics course.  In addition, he developed and taught three courses for pre-service and in—service elementary school teachers.  His widely-used high school textbook, Physics:  Principles and Problems, published by McGraw-Hill/Glencoe, went through nine editions and was translated into several foreign languages. His book, The Handy Physics Answer Book (Visible Ink Press, 2nd Ed. 2011), explains physics phenomena in easy to understand conceptual language.

 Paul retired from active faculty status as a professor of physics in the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, and Professor of Science Education in the School of Education at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, on April 30, 2009.

Active in many physics and physics teachers' organizations, Paul served as president of the Michigan Section, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), and treasurer and executive board member of the national AAPT.  He received the distinguished service award from the Michigan Section of the AAPT in 2001 and was named a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2002. He received the Dearborn campus's Distinguished Faculty Research Award in 1985, the Distinguished Service Award in 2003, and the Distinguished Teaching Award in 2007.

In 2010 Paul W. and Barbara S. Zitzewitz generously endowed AAPT’s Excellence in Pre-College Teaching award and the name of the award was changed to the Paul W. Zitzewitz Award for Excellence in Pre-College Physics Teaching.

Paul's commitment to an experimental approach to scientific research and learning was born out of a basic curiosity about the world, one that he tried to encourage in his students, children, and grandchildren alike.

A celebration of his life will be held on Friday, May 24 at 11 a.m. at the Fairlane Center, North Building of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, 19000 Hubbard Drive, Dearborn. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in his name may be made to University of Michigan-Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Avenue, Dearborn, MI 48128, Attn: Diane Gulyas (dmgul@umich.edu), to University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (http://www.upmccancercenter.com/giving/gifts_honor.cfm), or to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.