Robert Fassnacht

Infobox Person
name = Robert E. Fassnacht


image_size =
caption =
birth_date = January 14, 1937
birth_place = South Bend, Indiana
death_date = August 24, 1970 (age 33)
death_place = Madison, Wisconsin
occupation = physics researcher
spouse = Stephanie
parents = Walter [ [http://www.madison.com/library/LEE/82875.pdf Fathers cope with sons' bomb death, jailing] United Press INternational]
children = Christopher, Heidi and Karin

Robert E. Fassnacht (January 14, 1937–August 24, 1970) was a physics post-doctoral researcher who was killed by a bomb 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. [ [http://www.madison.com/tct/opinion/column/moe/index.php?ntid=3666&ntpid=2 Doug Moe: Chicago's other great columnist] by Doug Moe, July 2, 2004, The Capital Times] .

Fassnacht was at University of Wisconsin–Madison to pursue a doctorate degree in physics. He was involved in research in the field of superconductivity, which has potential applications to everything from power distribution to high-speed trains.

Bombing

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.

The bomb had been directed at Sterling Hall as a protest against the Vietnam War. This bomb was intended to destroy the Army Math Research Center, but instead destroyed much of the physics department and severely damaged other neighboring buildings.

After the bombing

Family

Fassnacht was survived by his wife, Stephanie, and their three children, a three-year-old son, Christopher, and twin daughters, Heidi and Karin who would turn 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 Cal Tech and is now a physics professor at the University of California at Davis. Heidi and Karin both graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Commemorative Plaque

On May 18, 2007 the University of Wisconsin-Madison unveiled a plaque on the side of Sterling Hall commemorating the bombing and Robert Fassnacht's death. The event was attended by John D. Wiley, then Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and acquaintance of Robert Fassnacht, by current and former members of the Physics department, including chair Susan Coppersmith, and family and friends of Robert including his daughters Heidi and Karin. [ [http://www.madison.com/tct/archives/index.php?archAction=arch_read&a_from=search&a_file=%2Ftct%2F2007%2F05%2F19%2F0705190074.php&var_search=Search&keyword_field=Robert%20Fassnacht&pub_code_field=tct&from_date_field=&to_date_field=&var_start_pos=0&var_articles_per_page=10 Memorial Plaque Honors Fassnacht] by Katie Dean, The Capital Times]

The plaque reads:

IN MEMORIAM

This is the site of the Sterling Hall Bombing, which occurred at 3:40 AM on August 24, 1970. An outstanding research scientist, Dr. Robert Fassnacht, was killed in the bombing while working in his laboratory on a physics experiment studying a basic mechanism for superconductivity in metals. Three others were injured. Dr. Fassnacht was 33 years old, married, and had three young children.

Responsible parties

Investigators believe that four people were involved in the bombing: brothers Karleton Armstrong and Dwight Armstrong, and accomplices David Fine and Leo Burt. The Armstrongs and Fine served jail time, a combined total of 12 years, and were subsequently paroled. Burt has never been found. [ [http://www2.jsonline.com/news/state/aug00/sterling20081900a.asp 30 years ago, bomb shattered UW campus] by Sharif Durhams and Peter Maller, Journal Sentinel, August 19, 2000]

Notes

Books and Resources

*"Rads: The 1970 Bombing of the Army Math Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Its Aftermath", 1992, by Tom Bates (ISBN 0060167548)

*"The Madison Bombings", 1988, by Michael Morris (ISBN 0947002308)
* [http://www.madison.com/library/LEE/sterlinghall.html Madison Newspapers Archive of the Sterling Hall Bombing]