Wayne State University mourns longtime physics professor and champion for peace and conflict studies Al Saperstein
The Wayne State University community is deeply saddened by the passing of Professor Emeritus of Physics Alvin “Al” Saperstein, Ph.D., a Detroit resident and fixture of Wayne State academics for six decades.
“Al Saperstein was the type of impactful faculty leader that is so unique to Wayne State: Detroit-powered, yet globally engaged,” Wayne State President Kimberly Andrews Espy, Ph.D. said. “He challenged us across decades to think bigger and bolder and to always remember that changing the world starts locally. His support of transformative scholarly research, conflict-resolution and Detroit connection leaves a profound legacy. He will be greatly missed by our entire university community.”
Saperstein was a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1963 until 2011 and continued teaching as professor emeritus thereafter, also supporting many students with the Saperstein Physics & Society Endowed Scholarship.
He is remembered as a key contributor to Wayne State’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. Originally established in the wake of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis as the Center for Teaching about War and Peace, CPCS promotes the study of international and domestic peace, a focus of Saperstein and his wife Harriet, who have provided consistent strategic and philanthropic support for the center and its mission.
In 2018, the couple established the Alvin M. and Harriet B. Saperstein Endowed Chair in the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, a position Pontus Leander, Ph.D., has held since 2022.
“I will do everything I can to ensure that our work at the center lives up to the vision Al had for us,” Leander said. “He was such a champion of peace, and I enjoyed talking with him regularly right until the end. He and Harriet have been so supportive. Their establishment of the endowed chair was a big part of why I chose to come to Wayne State, and I will be forever grateful to them for providing the resources we need to conduct research that is both groundbreaking and humanitarian.”
Born in New York in 1930, Saperstein became fascinated by atomic physics but concerned by the ramifications of nuclear warfare as a teenager during World War II. He travelled the world speaking about nuclear disarmament and was even a guest lecturer at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1991.
Saperstein published many scholarly articles, including several collaborations on nuclear arms control with political scientist Frederic Pearson, Ph.D., who served as CPCS director from 1990-2021. “Understanding the dynamics of conflict and promoting peaceful resolution were everything to Al, and he believed it should be everything to everyone.” Pearson said. “He was always there for the Center and for students and was a guest lecturer in my international relations courses. His concern for nuclear arms control was inspiring. Al provided a helpful physical science perspective to social sciences students.”
“Al spent his life considering the role science and technology could play in creating peace,” Harriet Saperstein said. “The center is Al’s legacy and a testament to his belief that peace is possible.”
Home in Detroit
Harriet and Saperstein met in 1946 as children in New York City and married in 1956. After Al joined Wayne State in 1963, they moved into their home in Detroit’s Lafayette Park and never left.
“I figured, hey, I'll be here for a few years,” Al said. “The next thing I knew, 60 odd years went by.”
Saperstein built a fulfilling career at Wayne State, citing summer peace-focused programs that brought speakers and activities to the Detroit Community through the Center.
“Why did I stay at Wayne State? I felt proud of our involvement with the community and how we would try to make a difference, bringing diverse groups of people together for dialogue. That felt very good,” Al said.
In 2018, Saperstein was honored as one of eight awardees at the Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit Eight Over Eighty celebration, which honored Jewish seniors working to “repair the world.”
“Feeling so strongly towards the crusade to create a society in which color is irrelevant, Dr. and Mrs. Saperstein were among the few Jews in Detroit to remain in the city after the events of 1967,” Bennett Grosinger, then a Wayne State student, remarked at the ceremony.
Saperstein was a founder and editor of Physics and Society, a quarterly newsletter published by the Forum on Physics and Society through the American Physical Society. He was a Fulbright Research Scholar, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Danforth Fellow and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
He authored two textbooks: Energy in the Environment and Dynamical Models of the Onset of War. In the introduction to the latter, Saperstein proposed that the disciplines of political science and physics could be approached similarly, writing, “Both sciences are concerned to some degree with the creation and dissolution of order and the interactions between components of a system.”
Saperstein served as a docent at the Michigan Science Center for many years, visiting several hours per week to lead science demonstrations for groups of children.
Stephanie Hartwell, Ph.D., dean of Wayne State’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said she will always remember Al’s love for Detroit, science and humanity.
“Al and Harriet have always been so gracious to me, welcoming me into their home and family,” Hartwell said. “I was immediately struck by their love of Detroit and each other. They make a great team, leading by word and deed and showing us how academics can help identify solutions for society’s grand challenges, but only if we are authentically and actively part of society ourselves.”
Gifts in Dr. Saperstein’s memory may be made to the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies.