Bezuszka, Stanley J., 1914-2008

Stanley John Bezuszka, SJ was born as Stanislaw Besuiska on January 26, 1914, in Vilnius, Lithuania (then part of the Russian Empire), to Polish parents Michael and Stephanie (Andruszkiewicz) Bezuszka. He had one sister, Josephine (Bezuszka) Kokoska. The family moved to the United States shortly after Stanley's birth, on June 29, 1914, at which point Stanley's name was respelled as Stanislaus John Bezuszka. He was raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, and entered the Society of Jesus on September 15, 1933. He arrived at Boston College as a Jesuit scholastic in 1939 and, with the exception of time spent in doctoral and advanced theological study, was a member of the university’s mathematics faculty for more than 60 years, retiring in 2008. In 1942, he became a naturalized United States citizen. He earned a bachelor's and two master's degrees at Weston College and Boston College prior to his ordination to the priesthood in 1946, and a doctoral degree in theoretical physics from Brown University in 1953.

At Boston College, in addition to his teaching responsibilities, Bezuszka founded the Boston College Mathematics Institute, an innovative component of the national effort to improve American math and science education programs in response to the Soviet Union's launch of space satellites in the late 1950s. The Institute held summer courses to teach teachers and to develop better mathematics curricula at all levels. Bezuszka was known on campus for his green thumb, as the cultivator of the flower garden between St. Mary's Hall and O'Neill Library for over fifteen years, with help from his sister Josephine. Bezuszka was also recognizeable on campus alongside his Bassett hounds, Rusty and Freckles, who attended all of Bezuszka's classes and kept him and his students company in his office at the Math Institute.

Bezuszka was a widely recognized leader of national efforts to improve American math and science programs. His awards and accolades include the Lifetime Achievement Award for Teaching from the Mathematics Education Trust Foundation of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics; the annual teaching and learning award from the Association of Teachers of Mathematics of New England, named in his honor; and a bench in front of the St. Mary's garden dedicated to "Father B." by former students.

Stanley Bezuszka died on December 27, 2008 at the Campion Center in Weston, Massachusetts, just one month shy of his 95th birthday.