Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Emeritus James Nordman died peacefully on Nov. 21, 2017.
James Nordman
Nordman was born in Quinnesec, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, on April 27, 1934. In spring 1942, the family moved to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. His father was employed at the Manitowoc Shipyards, which built submarines for World War II.
Nordman graduated from Lincoln High School in 1952, Marquette University in 1957 and received his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1962. He then joined the ECE faculty, teaching and mentoring scores of students. He was a soft-spoken teacher, talented musician, and creative engineer, known for his sense of humor, patience while teaching, and ready smile.
He and his graduate students contributed to many research advances in both low-temperature and high-temperature superconductivity. He continued to pass on his love of learning and sense of curiosity at UW-Madison until his retirement in 1996.
In June of 1959, Nordman married Clare Ann Bouda in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and their 58 years of marriage began in Madison. They had the adventures of raising six children in a neighborhood of special friends, living in Princeton, New Jersey, for a year, and in Grenoble, France, for another year. Throughout his life Jim enjoyed singing, on his own and with the choirs at Blessed Sacrament Church and with the Choral Union at UW-Madison. He enjoyed working on cars, and in retirement he was able to focus on his 1941 Lincoln Zephyr convertible—giving him pleasure, challenges and more good friendships.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Bill. He is survived by his wife, Clare, and their six children: Susan Nordman Oliveira and George Oliveira, Joe and Tammy Nordman, Bob and Lisa Nordman, John and Melanie Nordman, Cathy Nordman, and Mary and Steve Levy, as well as 13 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.