After 56 years of educating the hearts and mathematical minds of Santa Clara students, Professor Leonard Klosinski ’61—SCU’s fourth-longest serving faculty member—retired last August.
Joining the University’s Mathematics and Computer Science Department in 1964, Klosinski’s teachings quickly went beyond the classroom and campus. He lent his talent and guidance to the executive board of SCU’s Mathematics Society, a student organization, and became a longtime member of the Mathematical Association of America, the world’s largest community of mathematicians. From 1965-2017, alongside close friend and fellow faculty, the late Jerry Alexanderson, he contributed his leadership to The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, saying, “We would like . . . the Putnam [to] largely continue to be what it is: a means of identifying those who have this enormous power to look at a mathematical problem and see beyond to a solution.”
Affectionately referred to over the decades as the “quintessential calculus professor,” Klosinski stewarded thousands of students into math lovers with his humor, patience, weekly quizzes, and dedication to advancing the minds of his pupils. “I really enjoyed my time in the classroom all of these years—56 years of teaching, plus three years as an undergraduate,” he recounted. “I never expected to be teaching until I was 82. I will really miss the students.”
Written by Rachaella Giannotta
