Will Tanner
Managing Editor
Las Positas College says good-bye to another faculty member.
Dr. Kevin Ankoviak died on Thursday, March 27, after suffering from multiple illness for some time.
Many at LPC will remember him, both as a professional who had an academic background to boost and a friend whose instense passion shone strong.
Ankoviak graduated from the Univeristy of Michigan with a Bachelor’s in physics and UC Los Angeles with a Ph.D. in nuclear physics.
He was one of 18 people hired at LPC in 2000. He taught Physics 8 and 10 as well as Astronomy 10 and 20.
Ankoviak also served on the Faculty Senate for five years.
Carol Edson, who first had Ankoviak as a student before becoming an assistant at the school, remembered Ankoviak as a professor who focused more on the concepts.
“He loved the history of science and did not just teach the concepts,” Edson said.
“He explained to you the reasoning through time,” she added.
Many friends and colleagues knew Ankoviak’s hobbies included watching movies, building models and visiting the happiest place on Earth, Disneyland.
His passion for physics and science in general spills into the list as well.
As his love of many science fiction , such as Star Wars and Star Trek, was only outmatched by his ability to argue things that were scientifically and conceptually inconsistent with them.
Any mistake he found was something he would talk about when asked about the movie.
“He never was shy to make his opinion known,” Computer Science instructor LaVaughn Hart said.
“He would get us a bit riled up so we would think about things,” headed.
Bob LaChapelle, also a Physics teacher, remembers Ankoviak fondly. For him, Ankoviak was more than just a colleague. He was a friend.
“Sometimes he was a pain, but he always balanced that out with compassion for others,” LaChapelle said. “He was a good guy, a memorable character.”
