Walter E. Meyerhof
1922-May 27, 2006
Menlo Park, California

Walter E. Meyerhof, a Stanford University professor emeritus of physics and a Menlo Park resident since 1949, died May 27 from complications of Parkinson's disease. He was 84.

Born in Kiel, Germany, in 1922; the same year his father, Otto Meyerhof, won the Nobel Prize for medicine; Mr. Meyerhof was forced to flee Europe during World War II. He and his parents were living in France when it became occupied by Nazi forces. And when the Nazis began rounding up Jews, many of whom had already escaped persecution in Germany, the 18-year-old Walter and his parents were helped in their escape to the United States by a non-Jewish American, Varian Fry.

They were three of 3,000 to 4,000 people rescued by Mr. Fry, and after Mr. Meyerhof retired, he attempted to repay the debt by establishing the Varian Fry Foundation Project, based in Menlo Park.

Founded by Mr. Meyerhof in 1997 under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee, the foundation strives to spread the word, mainly through classroom curricula, about the heroic deeds of Mr. Fry, who died in 1967. Mr. Meyerhof directed the foundation until recently.

Mr. Meyerhof earned his doctorate in physics in 1946 from the University of Pennsylvania. He began his career at Stanford in 1949, and retired in 1992. A textbook he wrote, "Elements of Nuclear Physics," is still used in college classrooms, according to family members.

His career was distinguished by a number of awards and recognitions, including the Lloyd Dinkelspiel Teaching Award from Stanford, in 1977; the Tenured Faculty Development Award from Stanford, 1977-78; and an honorary doctorate from the University of Frankfurt, 1980.

His work in physics and in the nonprofit Varian Fry foundation didn't prevent him from pursuing other interests, and during his later years, he took up writing and watercolor painting. After taking the popular "Life Stories" class offered at the Menlo Park Library by Sheila Dunec, he published a book, "In the Shadow of Love: Stories From My Life."

His wife of 59 years, Miriam, said he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease last year.

In addition to his wife, who also had to flee Nazi Germany, Mr. Meyerhof is survived by two sons, Michael of Menlo Park and David of Burbank; a grandson, Matthew; and a sister, Bettina, of Seattle.

Tags: teacher/educator