Klaus Westphal Obituary, UW Geology Museum’s Former Director has died

Klaus Westphal Obituary, Death – On July 31st, Klaus Westphal, who had previously served as the Director of the UW Geology Museum, passed away. It is with great regret that we offer this news. During his employment at the museum, which lasted from 1969 through 2003, Klaus made a number of significant and long-lasting improvements. He was one of the co-founders of the Friends of the Geology Museum, a charitable organization whose members have been generous in their support of the museum’s purpose for almost half a century.

It was in 1980 when he relocated our collections and displays from Science Hall to Weeks Hall, which is now their permanent location. This herculean effort more than tripled the amount of space we had available for exhibits, which opened up new doors for presenting geological marvels to the general public. After that, Klaus embarked on an ambitious and ultimately fruitful initiative to place a dinosaur skeleton on exhibit in Wisconsin for the first time. Since it was opened, this incredible landmark has been viewed by more than one million guests.

In addition to that, he was the one who developed our fossil preparation lab, which is the operational lab that is the most visible and viewed on campus. The numerous semesters that Klaus spent instructing “Life of the Past” contributed to the solidification of his reputation as a highly regarded professor. This course was essentially a guided tour of the museum that lasted for the entirety of the semester.

In it, Klaus would walk students through the evolution of life on Earth using museum exhibits as examples. Klaus’ sense of humor and his warm hospitality were constants throughout his professional life. Over the course of several decades, he held weekly office hours in which he invited members of the museum staff as well as students to discuss and attempt to solve the Wisconsin Public Radio lunchtime quiz question. Klaus was a devoted bus passenger who would often make friends with other people on the bus and invite them on a personal tour through the exhibitions, during which he would share anecdotes with them. His enthusiasm for the museum and those who came to see it brought him much delight, and this exuberant energy continues to thrive in the one-of-a-kind venue he created.