John Durso

Beloved husband, father, and grandfather, John William Durso died Feb. 6, 2025, at the age of 87.

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was a Dodgers fan (until they moved to LA), treasuring a memory of being kindly received at Jackie Robinson’s home. He graduated from Lincoln High School. At Lincoln, he was the sports editor for the school newspaper, the Lincoln Log, forming life-long friendships.

At Cornell University, he earned a B.A. in Physics in 1959. While at Cornell, he met his future wife, Lois Silverstein. They were married in 1959 and then moved together to Penn State University where John completed his Ph. D. in Physics. There he also became a father twice over. The young family spent a year in Naples, Italy, where John did postdoctoral study. After additional postdoctoral work at Michigan State University — and two more children added to his growing family — John began a 34-year career as a professor at Mount Holyoke College.

During his time at Mount Holyoke, he taught physics courses, some of the first computer programming courses at the college, and a course in quantitative reasoning. Students remember his vigorous presentation on potential energy that involved climbing on and jumping off his desk as well as his standing in the path of a heavy pendulum. He held the David B. Truman Chair for excellence in teaching. When the need arose, he served as department chair. His research in intermediate energy nuclear physics benefitted from affiliations with SUNY Stony Brook, Nordita: the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, and the Forschungszentrum Jülich. Upon his retirement, John was named a Professor Emeritus of Physics at Mount Holyoke College.

Though devoted to his work, he still found time for other passions. He loved the art and physics of photography, experimented with vintage cameras, and built his own darkroom. He cooked breakfast for the family every Sunday morning. His fine-tuned formula for buckwheat pancakes still resides in their recipe collections as “Finally Perfect Pancakes". This enthusiasm for precision in pursuit of flavor informed his beer brewing and wine connoisseurship, to the benefit of his and Lois’s many guests, including the physics department community for an annual wine tasting party at their home.

As a physicist with a mustache and an exuberant head of hair, on multiple occasions he acceded to requests to portray Albert Einstein in amateur theatricals. That mustache was a “tell”. When immersed in thought, he would pull one edge of his mustache toward his mouth.

After John’s retirement from Mount Holyoke in 2001, he and Lois enjoyed international travel, including a trip around the world to experience new locations and to visit old friends. They also participated in the rich cultural and educational opportunities of their new home in Philadelphia’s Center City. He volunteered at the Franklin Institute, was a patron of the arts, and supported organizations promoting economic and political fairness.

He is survived by his wife Lois, his children Catherine, Elizabeth, Gianna, and Anthony, eleven grandchildren, and many others who knew and loved him.

Donations to honor John’s memory can be made to:

Mount. Holyoke College at https://www.mtholyoke.edu/giving

Cure Alzheimer’s Fund at https://curealz.org/giving/donate/