Faculty reflect on memories of beloved professor

Daniel Wayne Welch

September 7, 1949 ~ November 6, 2020

Professor of Physics, Wofford College

It is with deep regret that the Wofford community acknowledges the passing of the late Daniel Welch on the morning of November 6, 2020 at the age of 71. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Hilda and the late Johnnie Welch, Daniel is survived by his children Sean Welch, Heather Bellemore, and Erin Hill, as well as 7 grandchildren. The Old Gold & Black would like to honor Dr. Welch’s memory by publishing a series of memories compiled by his friends and colleagues in the Physics department.

Dan Welch taught physics at Wofford from 1978 until his death. His educational background included a Bachelor of Science, University Southwest Louisiana, 1971, a Master of Science in Physics, Clemson University, 1974, and his Doctor of Philosophy, Clemson University, 1977. The following are individual department memories of Dan.

Mackay Salley
“He encouraged us to think deeply about what we were teaching; not just the content in the textbooks but what the content means about our world.  He was a deep thinker whose focus was centered on physics but pierced into philosophy, math, religion, society, and beyond.  Honestly, sometimes his questions made my brain hurt and I just wanted to teach the formula and move on.  Dan would never stand for such a surface level understanding and after these encounters I would often find myself travelling home later that day or falling asleep that night realizing that he was on to something and had revealed a nugget of truth or a deep question that should be considered.  His deep questions and discussions improved our understanding of physics and our profession and ultimately made us better critical thinkers and teachers.  He will be missed and many conversations will be a little less thought provoking without him there to challenge us in our beliefs and our thoughts.”

Carolyn Martsberger
“My colleagues have captured Dan’s intellectual nature and his passion for debate, especially around the connection between physics and philosophy.  He challenged our thoughts and had a fresh perspective that often surprised me.  He didn’t need credit for things and certainly wasn’t interested in being in the limelight.  I admired his relentless commitment to his value system and I especially appreciated his kindness and compassion towards others. Moreover, Dan was hilarious.  Sharing an office next door to him meant that I got a regular dose of witty comments.  I still laugh out loud recalling one of our exchanges from my early days at Wofford. I had loaned a calculator to one of Dan’s students and it was taking a bit of time for the calculator to be returned. Dan didn’t want to see the transaction fall through the cracks, so, finally, he walked up to my office, looked calmly at me, and said ‘Call the police.’  We will miss him.” 

Steve Zides
“I think the thing I liked best about Dan was his terrible puns.  I’m pretty sure he knew they were not funny, but continued to make them all the time anyway.  Once you realized how awful they were, like a B science fiction movie, they became funny and you looked forward to the next one, which you knew was just around the corner.  I guess in many ways the puns were indicative of the way he ran his whole life, thinking and doing things his own way, letting you decide if, like the puns, you could warm up to his point of view.  

I respected his intellect and uncompromising desire to question every assumption.  He was never interested in easy answers or superficial investigations; rather, he was interested in deeper understandings and mental sparring with those willing to engage with him at that level.  He was a unique individual whose tireless efforts never received the fanfare they deserved, but to be fair, Dan was never interested in such accolades. Being true to himself and his family was all that mattered to Dan and in that regard he was always successful.”

Greg Boeshaar
“Dan and I became friends when I moved into the Milliken basement in and office next to his lab in 2017.  We spent literally hours in conversation on many topics: Fermat’s Principle, misconceptions regarding the history of science, and the philosophy of science (which almost always came to rest on Aristotle’s teachings). Often when done, he would apologize for taking up too much of my time but that was never true.  He offered insights and perspectives on the basis for our knowledge of the Universe.  These times were always a fun and illuminating. One of the strongest images for me of Dan is seeing him walking by the Acorn Café hand-in-hand with his wife Shannon.  Dan Welch was the epitome of a gentleman and a scholar.”