Dr. Victor Louis Pollak 

Born Louis Viktor Pollak on March 25, 1930, in Vienna, Austria, he and his parents fled Nazi occupation for the safety of England in 1939.  In 1940, he and his mother sailed for America, sponsored by his mother's cousin in Cleveland. His father joined them a year later, having been interned as a suspected enemy alien in England, as was the case with so many other men fleeing Nazi Germany.

He graduated with honors from Case Institute of Technology in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and was a member of the engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi, and received a PhD in Physics in 1960 from Washington University in St. Louis. He worked briefly in industry before taking a position at Oklahoma State University. In 1968, he joined the faculty at the fledgling UNCC campus on Highway 49, serving as the first chairman of the Physics Department through 1976, becoming a full professor in 1973. He retired as emeritus in 1992.

Throughout his teaching career, he took a great interest in the training of science teachers, and spent many hours developing courses for education students and workshops for in-service teachers. From his own childhood experience, he believed strongly that students learn best by taking responsibility for their own learning, and that teachers should serve as mentors in that process.

The Professor Victor Pollak Scholarship is awarded annually to an outstanding sophomore physics major. The student must have completed a minimum of 8 hours in physics and be currently enrolled as a full time student. The award will be based on merit as indicated by the student’s overall GPA, physics GPA, and participation in Departmental activities.