Stuart Rojstaczer is an American writer, musician, and geophysicist.
He was trained as a geophysicist and was a professor at Duke University before leaving academia to pursue research into grade inflation and to write fiction and music. He performs music under the stage name Stuart Rosh with his band "the Geniuses".
Rojstaczer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Polish-Jewish parents. He was educated in public and Orthodox Hasidic schools and later went on to receive degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Illinois, and Stanford University. He ascended to a professorship at Duke University, where he researched hydrology, ecology, geophysics, and geology. His work has been published in journals such as Science"Science" Human Appropriation of Photosynthesis Products December 21, 2001 and Nature."Nature" Permeability enhancement in the shallow crust as a cause of earthquake-induced hydrological changes January 19, 1995
As he departed from academia, he published Gone for Good (Oxford University Press),Oxford University Press Gone for Good, Tales of University Life after the Golden Age, August 1999 in which he describes his point of view on the reality of elite academic institutions. He also began to write about grade inflation, maintaining a web site, gradeinflation.com,gradeinflation.com on the topic of college grading. He published articles on grading in the Teachers College RecordTeachers College Record Where A Is Ordinary, November 7, 2012 and has appeared on NPR"NPR" NPR Talk of the Nation May 4, 2004 to discuss this topic. His writings have also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other periodicals.The New York Times Grade Inflation: Your Questions Answered, May 13, 2010
In the 2000s, he began to write and perform music professionally and to write literary fiction. He has been a Karma Foundation Annual Short Story FinalistMoment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest Moment Magazine Announces Winners of Moment-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest, 2011 and a National Science Foundation Young Investigator.National Science Foundation NSF Young Investigator Award, 1995
His novel, The Mathematician's Shiva, was published by Penguin Books in 2014.Penguin Books The Mathematician's Shiva, September 2014
In 2015, Rojstaczer won the 2014 National Jewish Book Award for Outstanding Debut Fiction for "The Mathematician's Shiva".Jewish Book Council 2014 National Jewish Book Award Winners and Finalists, January 2015 The novel was shortlisted for the Ribalow Prize.
References
External links Stuart Rojstaczer – Official Website Grade Inflation: Your Questions Answered – The New York Times Grade Inflation: Stuart Rojstaczer: Where All Grades Are Above Average – Duke Today, webzine of Duke University Surprise: geologists find glaciers can suppress volcanic eruptions – UNC-CH News Services, December 8, 1998 National Trends in Grade Inflation at American Colleges and Universities – Analyzes data from around the United States over time