Biology professor, 60, dies in Sweden

After devoting 33 years of his life to teaching, professor William J. Rowland died June 27.\nA full professor in biology, Rowland had a special interest in marine biology. It was his academic work that sent him to Sweden to work on a research project. He died of a massive heart attack there at the age of 60.\nHis daughter, Marijke Rowland, said the project was almost completed. \n"He specialized in the study of stickleback fish, and he was doing research on the wild population (in Sweden) with a graduate student. It was a 6-week project and he had less than a week left to be there," Marijke said.\nHis family members and colleagues said Rowland possessed a rare blend of teaching and researching abilities.\nMarijke said it was his numerous qualities that made him a great teacher and father.\n"My father was a curious, intelligent and hardworking man who instilled those qualities in everyone around him from his family to his students," Marijke said.\nElizabeth Raff, chair of the biology department and a colleague and friend of Rowland, said he viewed teaching and researching as hand-in-hand.\n"Bill was one of those people where research and teaching are one," Raff said. "He was deeply connected with (both)."\nIt was his devotion to combining research with teaching that led him to become active in the Research Experiences for Undergraduate Program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. The program offers opportunities for minority students to do research with noted faculty members.\nRowland was directly responsible for securing the three grants the program has received since its inception nine years ago.\n"He's been there from the very beginning," said Linda Summers, who worked with him on the program. "There have been three grants, each one has been three years long, and the last one (he wrote) was used as a model proposal. They offered him more money than he asked for."\nRowland was not just important to the funding of the program, but also to its students.\nTeresa Dzieweczynski, a doctorate student who worked with Rowland for five years, said his presence was greatly missed in his lab.\n"We're all kind of wandering around like orphans," Dzieweczynski said. "He played a vital role here. He made it like a family and there's a big hole here now. And it's a loss to the department, too. He was the main ethologist on the staff and a lot of students and faculty members came to him all the time with questions."\nA memorial service will be held at noon Friday at the Day Funeral Home, 4150 E. Third St. Friends, family and colleagues will meet afterward from 4 to 7 p.m. for a reception at the Tudor Room in the Indiana Memorial Union.\n-- Contact Campus Editor Karen Green at kamgreen@indiana.edu.