Klaus Westphal Obituary, UW Geology Museum’s Former Director Has Passed Away

Klaus Westphal Obituary, Death – Klaus Westphal, who had previously worked as the Director of the UW Geology Museum, passed suddenly on July 31 after a long battle with cancer. This is some very unfortunate news that we have to share with you. Klaus was employed at the museum from the year 1969 to the year 2003, and during that time he was responsible for a number of substantial and long-lasting renovations.

He was one of the co-founders of the Friends of the Geology Museum, which is a nonprofit group whose members have been generous in their support of the museum’s mission for almost half a century. He was also one of the co-founders of the organization. In 1980, he moved our collections and displays from Science Hall to Weeks Hall, which is now their permanent site. Science Hall is no longer in use for these purposes.

The amount of space we had available for exhibits more than tripled as a result of this enormous effort, which opened up new possibilities for presenting geological marvels to the general public. After that, Klaus undertook an ambitious project, which ultimately proved to be successful, in order to put a dinosaur skeleton on display for the very first time in the state of Wisconsin. More than one million people have visited this remarkable relic ever since it first opened its doors to the public. In addition to that, he was the one who was responsible for developing our fossil preparation lab, which is the operating lab that is the most visible and viewed by students and faculty members on campus.