Obituary of Karl Casper

Elizabeth Casper notified us that her husband, Karl Casper, recently passed away. Karl was Emeritus Professor of Physics at Cleveland State University (CSU) and a Founding Member of the Ohio Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).

Founding Member does not tell the story —Karl was a driving force and guiding light in the successful effort to bring together northeast Ohio physics teachers into a local effective professional organization and strong affiliate of the national AAPT. For more than a decade before 1978, a small group of Cleveland area teachers of physics in colleges and high schools met each year to provide enrichment, encouragement, and education at an annual meeting open to all interested teachers in the region. Karl and some others recognized the limitations of this loose arrangement and argued for action to realize the full potential of the area’s unusually rich cohort of talented physics teachers. In 1977, not much more than a half-dozen group leaders met often (and intensely) to map out the path to national affiliation and formation of a vibrant local Ohio Section of AAPT; Karl was prominent among them.

Karl sought and achieved heavy support from his CSU department which agreed to provide some clerical help and bulk mailing services, as well as regularly host Section meetings. Karl directed the creation of an extensive mailing list which provided the vehicle for the unanimous approval to proceed with an application to form AAPT’s Ohio Section. When formal approval of the AAPT Section came, Karl was elected Corresponding Secretary, a post to which he was re-elected for seven years until the Section reluctantly accepted his voluntary resignation. As an Executive Board member, Karl was instrumental in recommending and recruiting prominent speakers for the now-semiannual meetings. Karl was among the first to promote the use of computers in physics education, both by his lucid presentations and example. Karl frequently contributed to the Section’s well-known “How-I-Do-It” session at its meetings.

Karl was a model and inspiration for all of us in teaching physics. Countless students in Northeast Ohio’s physics classrooms are deeply indebted to this competent physicist and educator.