Edward F. Redish ’63

Joe died peacefully at home Aug. 24, 2024, of cancer.

Globally recognized as a pioneer in the field of physics education research, he played a major role in helping to build the field into a thriving international community.

Joe came to Princeton on a full scholarship from Lynbrook (N.Y.) High School, where he was a member of the math team and the honor society and was salutatorian of his class. At Princeton, he joined the Woodrow Wilson Society and majored in physics. He graduated magna cum laude, winning the Kusaka Memorial Prize in Physics and the Sigma Xi Physics Prize.

After earning a Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics at MIT, Joe joined the physics department at the University of Maryland in College Park. He taught and did research there for more than 50 years, including a stint as department chair when Maryland had the third-largest physics department in the nation.

Joe was a University of Maryland Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physical Society, and the American Association of Physics Teachers. He received many awards for his research and his teaching. In 2017, more than 150 colleagues and former students from around the world came to celebrate Joe’s 75th birthday at a University of Maryland symposium in his honor.

Joe is survived by his wife of 57 years, Janice; their children, A. David and Deborah Fripp; and six grandchildren.