John Dittami

After a courageous battle with cancer, John Dittami, 65, of Vienna, Austria quietly passed away in the presence of his loving family. The sixth child of Rose (Cuneo) and Francis Dittami, John was born in Medford, Massachusetts, but spent most of his formative life in Sherborn where he excelled in swimming, sailing, and cross-country track. He played the harmonica and bass in the Footprints band at Tufts University. A graduate of Marian High School and Tufts University, John obtained a Ph.D. while conducting research at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. A chance association with Nobel Prize winner, Konrad Lorenz, led him to a scientific focus on the physiological processes of birds, a two-year study of ornithological species in the Lake Nakaru Wildlife Preserve in Kenya, and a year-long study of bird migrations in Spitzbergen, Norway. In 1988 he was appointed to the Konrad Lorenz Chair at the University of Vienna with responsibility for the management of Lorenzs research facility in Grunau im Almtal, Austria. During a 27 year tenure as Professor at the University Vienna, Faculty of Life Sciences, Dr. Dittami expanded his ethological research beyond birds to the scientific study of the endocrinological dimensions of the behavior of other members of the animal kingdom. He published numerous scientific documents in both German and English. Dr. Dittami leaves his wife Marlen and children Benjamin, Cindy, Lukas, Moni, and Maya of Vienna, and Simon, of Brittany. He was the brother of Alexander of Hampton Falls, NH, James of Princeton, MA, Louis of Milford, Margaret of Sandwich, Mary Rose Wells of Milford, Peter of Framingham, and Richard of Sudbury. He was predeceased by his first wife Briggitte, daughter Martina, sister Joan, and brother Francis. Memorial services will be held in Vienna with a private burial.