Ernst Zacharias Rothkopf

Dear Mrs. Rothkopf and family, I so sorry to hear that Dr. Rothkopf has passed. I had not kept in touch as I should have due to living abroad and having bouts of my illness.
I just always assumed he will there to exchange humerous holiday cards, get updates on our kids, discuss his latest tennis plans, etc.

Having met Dr Rothkopf was the best thing in my graduate studies. He was brilliant, articulate, passionate, and fierce about his topics. Always with a tinge of...

Dear Carol,

I only just learned of your husband's death. My deepest sympathy to you and your family.

David S. Rode
South Orange NJ
May 14, 2013

In loving memory of Ernie, important to me in so many ways.

This is for Ernie (who is probably right now coaxing angels to sit in his barber chair so that he can track their eye movements): yes, I still have a “low head to heart ratio” but your continued mentorship and advise over the past (many, many) years always helped me maintain a balanced skepticism. Whether I was going on about the dismal state of telephone technician training, or in anguish over the entire Namibian educational system, you found a way to put things in historical context and...

Ernie was a professor when I met him at Teachers College. So many of the students loved Ernie for his "take no prisoners" directness and humor, and of course, his tremendous wisdom. My favorite moment was when he looked at me in the hallway and said, "They won you know." I asked who, and he said the "Gestalt psychologists." I will always have wonderful memories. He did a lot of good for those coming up behind him.

Ernie was my dissertation advisor. In the mid 1960's he coined the term "mathemagenic" which means "to give birth to learning." Ernie was one of the most mathemagenic people I've ever known, having helped many people learn deeply about learning.

I remember twinkling eyes, a child-like love of creative turns, a gruff honor for standards of excellence, complex experimental designs, the way he and Carol would meet up after work in his office at TC, blue-covered reprints he shared...

Ernie's life was exemplary for us all. He had a rare combination of critical intelligence and wry humor. He will be missed.

Carol, I was very sad to hear of Ernie's death. My condolences. He was a very good colleague and friend.

Der Carol, Marissa, Paul and David, Marianne and I send our sympatny for the loss of Ernie. He was a man of the antique stamp, firm but fair to the outside world, and caring for and attentive to his family and friends, and will be much missed. Dave and Marianne Richards