William J. O'Sullivan

1931 - 2020

William (Bill) J. O'Sullivan passed away at home in the early hours of Saturday, January 18, 2020, at the age of 88. Bill is survived by his wife of 65 years, Dorothy J. O'Sullivan; his three children, Anne (Marty), Paul (Andrea), and Hugh; his grandchildren, Sean, Conor, Patrick, Brigid, Wendy, and Marty II; and his sister, Carol Wenzl and her family. Bill was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, on April 21, 1931, to William and Agnes (Slattery) O'Sullivan. Bill's family lived in Massachusetts and New York State, until his father was transferred by his employer to Kansas City, Missouri in 1950. Bill met his future wife Dotty Jordan on a blind date in the summer of 1950, while visiting his parents on his college break. From then on, he and mutual friends called her Dot. Over the next four years they maintained their relationship while he continued his college education (B.S. and Masters). Bill and Dot were married in Kansas City on July 10, 1954. After the wedding they moved to Pittsburg, PA, where Bill completed his Ph.D. Bill earned a B.S in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1952, his M.S. in Physics from the University of Southern California in 1954, and his Ph. D. in Physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1958. Following his studies, Bill's first position was assistant professor of physics at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, in Monterey, CA (1958-1959). It was a fun year, when Bill took up skin diving, as well as home brewing under the kitchen sink (!) with friends from Fort Ord. Subsequent appointments included staff scientist at Space Technology Laboratories (a division of TRW - Thompson Ramo Wooldridge) in southern CA (1959-1963), and staff scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM (1963-1968). Professor Emeritus O'Sullivan's distinguished career at the University of Colorado Boulder spanned more than 30 years, from 1968 to his retirement in 2000. His leadership during his tenure as Chair of the CU Department of Physics (1988-1996) promoted significant growth and success. Looking back on his career, Bill described himself as an astrogeophysicist. His research area was experimental condensed matter physics. He and his graduate students published 75 refereed physics journal articles and book chapters. He was a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was twice awarded University of Colorado Faculty Research Fellowships. Bill was athletic and lived an active life. He enjoyed playing basketball, hiking, camping, running and cycling. He loved the mountains and trails around Boulder and from the day he and Dot moved to the city in 1969 (51 years ago), couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Even into his 80s, he continued going on daily dog walks in the greenbelt and local parks - always (to the chagrin of those who cared for him, or had access to a thermometer) wearing shorts, regardless of the conditions. Bill's love of dogs started with his first dog, Smoky, when he was in high school. Dogs were a constant, ever-present, part of Bill and Dot's lives together. In 1999, the couple began first fostering and then, inevitably, adopting, retired racing greyhounds. Over the course of the last twenty years, Bill and Dot adopted dozens of older, retired racers and loved them all. Bill was, and his family will always be, deeply appreciative of the assistance provided by TRU Community Care as his health declined. If you wish to make a donation in Bill's name, please send it to Colorado Greyhound Adoption, PO Box 2404, Littleton, CO 80161-2404.