Zbigniew Grabowski

Zbigniew (Zbig) Grabowski

Zbigniew (Zbig) Grabowski died Monday 30th January 2017 in Fort Myers, Florida at the age of 85. He was born in Plock, Poland, During WWII, the family moved to Warsaw where they survived the German & Russian occupations.

He was educated at Jagiellonian University in Krakow receiving Bachelor and Master's degrees in Nuclear Physics. He subsequently did research for the Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences. Later he received his Doctorate at the University of Uppsala in Sweden, where his major professor was Noble Prize winner Kai Seigbahn. He came to the United States in 1963 and taught at Purdue University for over 40 years. During that time he did research at Argonne National Laboratories, T.V.A. Los Alamos National Laboratory, and at many international research institutions. He was author or co-author of over 100 papers covering his work. In addition to has his academic achievements, Zbig also enjoyed sports. In his youth he was a semi-professional volley ball player and played tennis into his 80's.

He is survived by his wife Maureen Smitt Grabowski, sister-in-law & brother-in-law Susan & Richard Simon and many friends and colleagues around the world. He was pre-deceased by his first wife Sandra Reynolds Grabowski.

If you would like to remember Zbig, donations in his name to The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, Polio Plus Fund, One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Ave. Evanston, IL 60201-3698, or The Zbig & Maureen Smitt Grabowski Study Abroad Fund at Purdue University, 610 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, would be appreciated.

A memorial Service to celebrate Zbig's life will be held at the Holiday Inn-City Center Lafayette a 4 p.m. on Friday, March 17th 2017. All friends and colleagues welcome.