Maria Dworzecka

Dr. Maria Dworzecka, born Marysia Rozenszajn on June 19, 1941, died peacefully on January 16, 2023 at the age of 81. A Polish American, Maria was a Holocaust survivor, mother, grandmother, friend to many, nuclear physicist and physics educator.

Maria adopted her daughter Ania from Poland in 1986 and spent the last 36 years making amazing memories which will never be forgotten. Maria was a devoted and exceptional mother and eventually grandmother. She made her daughter and granddaughter her number one priority in life. Maria was also an avid dog lover. She treasured her dogs Lady, Kylie, grand-puppies Cody and Tyler and her most recent dog Sasha who was instrumental in keeping her spirits up during her illness.

Dr. Maria was very proud of her work. She received her master's and Ph.D. degrees in physics in 1964 and 1969 from Warsaw University in Poland. Maria fled Poland in 1969 due to the antisemitic violence triggered by a Polish political crisis. Arriving in America as a refugee, she began her physics career as a researcher at Michigan State University, after which she worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts and the University of Maryland. In the 1960's and 1970's Maria's research focused on nuclear physics theory applied to heavy nuclei. In 1982 her work shifted to computational physics, and physics education after she joined George Mason University as an Associate Professor. At Mason she co-directed a National Science Foundation sponsored project known as CUPS that developed software for nine upper-level physics courses. This software and the nine accompanying texts were written by 30 physicists from around the world and they were published by John Wiley & Sons. The CUPS project led to Maria becoming a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1996. In 1998 she became the Chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Maria was proud of being one of the few female physics chairs in the nation, and she was instrumental in hiring and mentoring other female faculty. In 2006 she was appointed the Senior Associate Dean of the newly formed College of Science. On her retirement from George Mason University in 2017, she was awarded professor emerita.

In her retirement, Maria served as a volunteer for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, spent her time visiting with friends, spoiling her granddaughter and traveling. She enjoyed a good margarita and a great creme brulee with friends. She spent hours playing with her granddaughter and cheering her on at her travel soccer games.

Maria was predeceased by her biological parents Izak Rozenszajn and Bela Kaufman Rozenszajn, also known as Paulina Pakulska, Lucyna and Waclaw Bialowarczuk who rescued her during the war and Alicja Dworzecka and Arkadiusz Dworzecki, who adopted her in 1948. Maria is survived by her daughter, Ania, son-in-law Eric, her cherished granddaughter Natalie, extended family and many, many friends from around the world.

In lieu of flowers please feel free to send a donation to the Northern Virginia Sheltie Rescue Association or Homeward Trails Animal Rescue (Fairfax Station) where she adopted her dog Sasha from.

Please note a celebration of life will follow sometime in the late spring/early summer once we process her passing.

To hear her first person oral history interview with the USHMM please visit

https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn598223

Here is also her written story:

https://www.ushmm.org/remember/holocaust-survivors/volunteers/maria-dworzecka