Stuart Rojstaczer

Stuart Rojstaczer
BornMilwaukee, Wisconsin, US
OccupationWriter, musician, geophysicist
Education65th St. School, Nicolet H.S., U Wisconsin, U Illinois, Stanford U
Website
www.stuartr.com

Stuart Rojstaczer is an American writer, musician, and geophysicist.

He was trained as a geophysicist and was a professor at Duke University before leaving academia to pursue research into grade inflation and to write fiction and music. He performs music under the stage name Stuart Rosh with his band "the Geniuses".

Rojstaczer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Polish-Jewish parents. He was educated in public and Orthodox Hasidic schools and later went on to receive degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Illinois, and Stanford University. He ascended to a professorship at Duke University, where he researched hydrology, ecology, geophysics, and geology. His work has been published in journals such as Science[1] and Nature.[2]

As he departed from academia, he published Gone for Good (Oxford University Press),[3] in which he describes his point of view on the reality of elite academic institutions. He also began to write about grade inflation, maintaining a web site, gradeinflation.com,[4] on the topic of college grading. He published articles on grading in the Teachers College Record[5] and has appeared on NPR[6] to discuss this topic. His writings have also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other periodicals.[7] [8]

In the 2000s, he began to write and perform music professionally and to write literary fiction. He has been a Karma Foundation Annual Short Story Finalist[9] and a National Science Foundation Young Investigator.[10]

His novel, The Mathematician's Shiva, was published by Penguin Books in 2014.[11]

In 2015, Rojstaczer won the 2014 National Jewish Book Award for Outstanding Debut Fiction for "The Mathematician's Shiva".[12][13] The novel was shortlisted for the Ribalow Prize.[14]

  1. ^ "Science" Human Appropriation of Photosynthesis Products December 21, 2001
  2. ^ "Nature" Permeability enhancement in the shallow crust as a cause of earthquake-induced hydrological changes January 19, 1995
  3. ^ Oxford University Press Gone for Good, Tales of University Life after the Golden Age, August 1999
  4. ^ gradeinflation.com
  5. ^ Teachers College Record Where A Is Ordinary, November 7, 2012
  6. ^ "NPR" NPR Talk of the Nation May 4, 2004
  7. ^ The New York Times Grade Inflation: Your Questions Answered, May 13, 2010
  8. ^ The Washington Post Where All Grades Are Above Average, January 28, 2003
  9. ^ Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest Moment Magazine Announces Winners of Moment-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest, 2011
  10. ^ National Science Foundation NSF Young Investigator Award, 1995
  11. ^ Penguin Books The Mathematician's Shiva, September 2014
  12. ^ Jewish Book Council 2014 National Jewish Book Award Winners and Finalists, January 2015 Archived February 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  14. ^ "Molly Antopol Wins Hadassah Fiction Award". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. October 9, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2019.