91ÅÝܽ

Daryl Crozier: Neil did his undergrad at University of Western Ontario. I remember mentioning his name at a colloquium at UWO and a Faculty Member said he always wondered where Neil went after he graduated and he would be delighted to recommend Neil for a Faculty position at UWO, please ask him to apply. But by then Neil did not want to leave Vancouver at that time. So he could have slipped away but we were fortunate and we got him.

Albert Curzon: [Neil Alberding was] an excellent contributor to the Physics Department. Whatever he did for us he always did an excellent job. I found him to be an always friendly, helpful colleague.

James Lang: I just wanted to express how welcoming Neil … [was] to me when I was getting started at the department. It's not an easy environment to get comfortable but Neil's friendship certainly helped. I had always looked forward to our lunches at the DAC including discussions on campy sci-fi films and other random topics. When I last spoke to Neil, I extended the invite for another lunch at the DAC when it re-opens. Unfortunately we never got there.

Andrew Seary: Neil and I worked together with Prof. Daryl Crozier for many years and had a happy and convivial time doing high-energy research... He was a good friend and I shall miss him.

Sarah Johnson: Studio Physics wouldn't exist at SFU if it wasn't for Neil. He was instrumental in convincing people to offer it at the Surrey campus, and he was able to modify the Workshop Physics curriculum and acquire all of the necessary equipment to set up a successful course. It was my pleasure to work with him on the implementation of Studio Physics when I first arrived at SFU in 2005. I learned a lot about physics teaching from him, and he always made me feel welcome.

Howard Trottier: Neil's unflagging efforts over many years to bring interactive learning strategies to our department eventually helped to fundamentally change the way that we teach physics. In my first few years at SFU, I became dimly aware of what Neil was up to, but like many faculty of my generation, I thought that pontificating in front of large first-year classes was working for me. After considerable but necessary hounding, Neil eventually persuaded me to administer the Force Concept Inventory in one of my classes, and was very gracious when I got the rude awakening that he knew would come. I paid attention from then on. His early laboratory worksheets were a revelation, and I borrowed heavily from them, and Neil's advice, in developing labs for Physics 190, when it was redesigned to serve non-science students. Much later, I subbed for Neil or Sarah a few times in the early days of studio physics, and found the experience of wandering around the lab engaging with students after the short lecture to be liberating -- I thought of it as being let out of "teacher jail", the feeling of being stuck behind a podium in a normal lecture class. One of my few regrets from my career at 91ÅÝܽ not having taught a full studio physics course. I was very fond of Neil, a kind and gentle soul, with a hearty and infectious laugh. Like many in our department, I was shocked at his passing, so soon after retirement, and both Loula and I are keenly feeling his absence.