Established on 01.29.2024 by Dr. John and Barbara Wollan
Professor T.C. Wollan came to Concordia College as head of the Department of Mathematics in 1917, having served since 1903 at Park Region Luther College, where he was principal of the academy and head of the Department of Mathematics when he left in 1917. An 1894 graduate of the University of Minnesota, he taught at Concordia from 1917 until his death in 1932. A man of rugged integrity, quaint humor, and down-to-earth philosophy, T.C. Wollan was a well-respected and beloved teacher.
T.C.’s son, Dr. E.O. Wollan ‘23 was a physicist who helped pioneer the fields of health physics and neutron diffraction. E.O. Wollan received his B.A. from Concordia College in 1923 and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1929. In 1932, Wollan traveled to the Arctic Circle and Zurich to perform cosmic ray research on a National Research Council Fellowship. After returning to the United States, Wollan became a professor of physics at Washington University in St. Louis before starting work at the Chicago Tumor Institute.
E.O. Wollan was the first person to use the title “health physicist.” The group’s initial focus was designing tools to measure radiation exposure. This led to a number of new devices, including the standardized film badge, invented by Wollan. In 1944, Wollan and his health physics group moved to Oak Ridge. Wollan stayed at Oak Ridge for twenty-three years, where he became the Associate Director of the Physics Division. He retired from the lab in 1967.
Wollan died on March 11, 1984. Ten years later, the Nobel Prize was awarded in part to Clifford Shull for his role in developing Wollan’s neutron diffraction technique. The Nobel Prize cannot be awarded posthumously, and thus Wollan never received the Nobel Prize for his work.
Adelaide (Hov) Wollan ’26 came to Concordia College from Fischer, MN, and majored in English. She was an active community member and served in student government, wrote for the Concordian student newspaper, and graduated in 1926 as the Salutatorian of the class for her academic achievements. After moving to Chicago in 1928 she was elected as the secretary for the Concordia Chicago Alumni Club. She and E.O. had three children: John, Thomas, and Kathryn.
Their son, John, and his wife Barbara created this endowed scholarship to honor the generosity of Concordia for at the time that T.C. Wollan died, Concordia allowed his remaining three children the opportunity to finish their college degrees at no cost. They also wish to honor the vibrant memory and contributions of T.C. Wollan, E.O. Wollan, and Adelaide Hov Wollan.
The Professor T.C. Wollan, Dr. E.O. Wollan ‘23 and Adelaide Hov Wollan ’26 Endowed Scholarship is awarded by the Office of Financial to one or more students of any class with preference for students with a major or minor in mathematics, physics, or English.