In Memoriam: David Anderson

I was sad to read of the death of Emeritus Professor of Physics David Anderson ["Losses in the Oberlin Family," Summer 1996 OAM]. Freshman year I enrolled in his basic astronomy class. A confirmed humanist, I was resistant to and ignorant of the impact of sciences on my own life. David changed that with his plain-spoken explanations and his old-style presentation. I sat in the back determined to learn nothing, and instead gained respect for foreign ideas.

In 1988 I was on campus for political organizing, and I was in need of some companionship. I attended David's church, and enjoyed a meal at his house‹which was jammed with scientific, academic, and other memorabilia. I needed a respectable car, I informed the Andersons, for my assignment of collecting the Democratic presidential candidate's daughter and bringing her to Oberlin for a campaign event. They happily complied with their very respectable tan Buick Century.

David made me realize that the sciences are mind expanding and that their discoveries are as exciting as a unknown Shakespeare sonnet.

David Anderson was generous, passionate, and unapologetic; I will always value his teaching and his humanism.

--Patrick Hewes '87
Seattle, Washington