Kenneth Leon Nordtvedt

1939 - 2025

Kenneth "Ken" Leon Nordtvedt, 86 of Bozeman passed away on October 9, 2025. Ken was born in Skokie, Illinois on April 16, 1939. He grew up in the Chicago area where he graduated from high school in 1955, a year early. His intelligence showed early, and he skipped the fourth grade.

Ken graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a BS in physics, and from Stanford University with an MA and PhD in physics. Ken did his post-doctoral work at Harvard University.

While a student at MIT, Ken developed a life long love for sailing. He also built a home from the ground up in Chatham MA when he was just 21.

After completing his education, Ken moved to Bozeman, where he was a physics professor for 25 years. He served three terms in the Montana legislature. Ken designed and built a 55 foot sailboat named 'Reality' - an incredible accomplishment.

Ken's achievements are too numerous to detail, but some of them are being appointed to the National Science Foundation by President Reagan and being instrumental in developing a navigation system for the Apollo missions. Ken wrote the physics for the development of retroflectors which went to the moon on Apollon11. Fifty years later, they still send laser light back to observatories across the globe.

Until a year ago, Ken traveled the world, giving physics lectures at universities in many different countries.

Ken is survived by his wife, his children and two grandchildren. At his request, no services will be held.