Robert Fassnacht
| Robert E. Fassnacht | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 14, 1937 South Bend, Indiana |
| Died | August 24, 1970 (aged 33) Madison, Wisconsin |
| Occupation | Physics researcher |
| Spouse(s) | Stephanie Fassnacht |
| Children | Christopher, Heidi and Karin |
| Parent(s) | Walter Fassnacht |
Robert E. Fassnacht (January 14, 1937 – August 24, 1970) was a physics post-doctoral researcher who was killed by the bombing of Sterling Hall on August 24, 1970, on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus.
Fassnacht was a student from South Bend, Indiana who received a Westinghouse scholarship to attend college. He was at the University of Wisconsin–Madison pursuing post-doctoral research in the field of superconductivity, which has potential applications including power distribution and high-speed trains.
On the night of August 23 and into the early morning hours of August 24, 1970, Fassnacht was in the lab taking care of unfinished work because he and his family were slated to leave for a vacation in San Diego, California. His lab was located in the basement of Sterling Hall. He was in the process of cooling down his dewar with liquid nitrogen when the explosion occurred. Rescuers found him face down in about a foot of water. The cause of death, determined from the autopsy, was internal trauma.
As a protest against the Vietnam War, the bomb was intended to destroy the Army Mathematics Research Center, but instead destroyed much of the physics department and severely damaged neighboring buildings.
Fassnacht was survived by his wife, Stephanie, and their three children, a three-year-old son, Christopher, and twin daughters, Heidi and Karin who turned one a month after their father's death. The family continued to live in Madison in relative quiet and anonymity for many decades after the explosion, often crossing paths with the site of their father/husband's murder. Stephanie Fassnacht completed a long career at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, occupying an office just blocks from the site of her husband's death. Christopher attended Harvard University and Caltech and is now a physics professor at the University of California at Davis. Heidi and Karin both graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
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