Roger Morehouse, former Physics Professor, passed away on April 14, 2015

Prof. Morehouse was an enthusiastic instructor, teaching a broad spectrum of classes. Students' letters praised him for his open door office policy and “long hours and much appreciated patience.” He has actively sought out ways to be of service to the department. For example he built the first campus department webpage in the mid 1990’s when HTML coding was still painful. He has served for decades on the Academic Senate including two years as Chair, and on a wide variety of department, college, and university projects. He has engaged in substantial community service such as serving as the Nuclear Science Merit Badge Counselor, for the Annual BSA Merit Badge Midway held here on campus for the local Boy Scouts in our area, hosting Physics Magic Shows, and sharing Physics demonstrations at meetings of the American Association of Physics Teachers. He has been a legendary advisor to the Cal Poly Pomona Physics Club, and the honor society Sigma Pi Sigma. He has lead field trips across Southern California and Nevada, survived many road trips with student drivers, and flat tires in the middle of the desert. He has been honored with lifetime membership in the Cal Poly ASI. and He has demonstrated collegiality, cooperation and helpfulness. Since his retirement in 2010, Dr. Morehouse was a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. In 2011 he returned to the university to teach one class during the winter term.

Following his retirement, Dr. Morehouse immersed himself in reading, computer work and traveling. He and his wife visited Belize, Panama, and took cruises to Alaska, the Caribbean, and the coast of South America. Dr. Morehouse is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Covina, California, on a hill overlooking his beloved Cal Poly campus.

Below, Cal Poly Pomona Physics and Astronomy Faculty and Staff remember Dr. Morehouse, their colleague who served the department and the university for over three decades. Those who would like to remember him can also visit the webpage established for him. 

   

Kai S. Lam (Prof.): Roger had been a respected colleague, a wise mentor, and a dear friend of mine for almost thirty years while we served together in the Physics faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.  He will always be remembered for his keen insights on the welfare of the department, and his untiring efforts on how to make it a better place for everyone in it.  May he rest in peace.

Doug Johnson (Senior Technician): Roger was always looking for new physics demos to bring to his local AAPT Meetings to share and always brought back new demo ideas for us to build. I will miss his long discussions with me at the stockroom window. 

Ertan Salik (Assoc. Prof.): Roger was a mentor for me. I had the privilege to spend time with him in my first years at Cal Poly. He was very generous with his time in explaining various aspects of how this university worked. He will always be remembered. 

Alex Small (Assoc. Prof.): I got to have an office next to Roger’s for three years.  I spent many a pleasant afternoon with him standing in my doorway and relating tales of our department and our university.  Those conversations did a lot to help me understand this department and institution.

Kurt Vandervoort (Prof.): When I came to Cal Poly in 2002, I inherited the Advanced Laboratory Physics course from Roger.  Roger had put together a series of experiments that were thought provoking and challenging.  The lab manual that he wrote was extremely detailed and included an extensive amount of theoretical background.  I was truly impressed and inspired by the enormous amount of work he put into developing that course.   Since that time, I have updated many of these original experiments and replaced several with other experiments more aligned with my personal preferences.  However, I have always sought to maintain the rigor and depth in this course as was originally implemented by Roger. 

Peter Siegel (Prof. Emeritus): Roger was a wonderful colleague, a selfless individual that continuously thought of ways to help our students and the Physics faculty. He spent extra hours with the Physics Club organizing and chaperoning their activities. He spent countless hours in the faculty senate representing us. He was the example of quality service and dedication to the department, and I was at ease knowing Roger was watching out for us all.

Antonio Aurilia (Prof. Emeritus): I always looked up to Roger's unwavering commitment to Service to the Physics department, the College, the University and the community at large around Cal Poly. I know that I could never come close to Roger's dedication to service. I also know that he inspired me to give the best of myself whenever and wherever I could, as a Teacher and a Scholar. ​He will be sincerely missed.

Because Prof. Roger Morehouse was a former Academic Senate chair, the Senate meeting on May 13, 2015 was adjourned in his honor.