It is with great sadness that we share news of the passing of Professor Emeritus of Botany, Steven J. Wolf. Professor Wolf, 66, who taught at Stanislaus State for 21 years, died Sunday when the vehicle he was driving left the road and plunged into a creek near the Placer County town of Foresthill.
Professor Wolf joined the faculty in 1993 and retired in January 2014. He was a highly regarded teacher who also was instrumental in moving the University into the digital age in the mid-1990s by spearheading efforts to connect instructors and students with the World Wide Web.
A New York native, he studied at Corning Community College in his home state and graduated cum laude from the State University of New York at Albany with a degree in biology. He continued his studies in Canada, earning both his master’s degree and doctorate in botany from the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
He began his teaching career in 1984 as a visiting professor at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, and also was an instructor at the University of Colorado; University of Alaska at Juneau; University of Missouri at Kansas City; and at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana before starting his Stanislaus State career as an assistant professor of botany.
Professor Wolf was an avid mountain cyclist and photographer who made his home in the El Dorado County town of Cool.
His family said services are pending.