Deceased March 4, 2020
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In Memory
The College has learned of the death of Don Winter on March 4, 2020, when Matt Mitchell ’54 attempted to contact him to develop a Zoom project on global warming. Unfortunately, although he was such a successful and involved undergraduate, he hadn’t been heard from in quite a while, and a daughter alerted Matt and the rest of us to his passing.
Don came to Amherst from Rahway (N.J.) High School and majored in astronomy and mathematics. He was a member of Kappa Theta and its treasurer. He served as student advisor to the faculty as well as holding membership in many other clubs and organizations, including the Fraternity Business Management and House Management Committees. He graduated summa cum laude; was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi; and earned the Woods, Runnells, Hosmer, Brown and Travis Prizes. He participated in the Air Force ROTC and, following graduation, served two years in the USAF.
He received his M.A. in 1959 and Ph.D. in 1962 from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
For a time, Don was employed by Boeing and involved with the Apollo Program, but as federal funding dried up, he gravitated to academics, first at the University of Washington and then at the University of Redlands, and contributed numerous peer-reviewed papers on oceanography and mathematics.
Always a classical music supporter, he served over the years as president of the Philadelphia String Quartet and board member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Years ago, he became concerned about global warming and climate change long before many of us did.
Don was married twice and had three children from his first marriage. A much later marriage to Sharon Deng added yet another son. As far as we know, they all survive him.
Hank Tulgan ’54