| Stephanie Viola Chasteen
LOUISVILLE - Stephanie Viola Chasteen succumbed to an aggressive glioblastoma in Louisville, Colorado on November 3rd, 2024 at the age of 52. She bravely fought this cancer for one year with the support of her doctors at Kaiser and the Mayo Clinic, and her family and many friends. When the cancer ultimately prevailed, she accepted her fate with dignity and grace. Embraced by the love of her family, she peacefully slipped away.
Stephanie was born March 25th, 1972, in Appleton, Wisconsin to parents N. Dennis Chasteen and Margaret Helen Chasteen. She lived at various times in Lee and Durham NH, Bristol England, Western Australia, Guinea West Africa, Santa Cruz and San Francisco CA, and Boulder and Louisville, CO. Despite her life being cut short, it was a full and rewarding one. At Oyster River High School in Durham, she excelled in cross-country, her team becoming state champions. She graduated as a top 10 scholar, earning a scholarship at Bard College, NY, where she received a BA degree in social psychology. She completed a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics at the University of California - Santa Cruz followed by a National Science Foundation postdoctoral appointment at the Exploratorium Science Museum in San Francisco. She then joined the Science Education Initiative at the University of Colorado Boulder. While in graduate school, she worked as an independent science journalist, publishing numerous articles of importance to the public. As a recipient of an AAAS Mass Media Fellowship, she interned at NPR where she produced, wrote and voiced nationally aired spots on breaking science news. She loved writing and broadcasting and was a skilled communicator.
Through her business, Chasteen Educational Consulting, Stephanie, aka the “Science Geek Girl”, worked with universities throughout the US in various capacities to help faculty improve the teaching of physics using evidence-based methodologies. In recognition of her lifetime of contributions improving the teaching and learning of physics, Stephanie received the 2024 Lillian McDermott Medal of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). In 2024, she was also inducted as a fellow of the AAPT and a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Her legacy of educational reform has impacted thousands of students and their mentors.
Prior to graduate school, Stephanie served in the Peace Corps in Guinea West Africa where she learned the local language, Pular, and helped establish a rural Health Clinic which was subsequently named in her honor. The first-born child at the clinic was named “Stephanie”. Stephanie later established the “Friends of Guinea” organization and set up their website. She was a giver and routinely made lunches for the homeless in Boulder, CO. She loved contra dancing, hiking, canyoneering and technical climbing which she shared with many good friends over the years, most notably Brian Moore of Boulder and Ted Hodapp of Minneapolis among many others.
Stephanie is survived by her parents Dennis and Margaret, her son Maxwell Victor Ollila, caregiver and loving partner Terry Ollila, stepmother Loretta Lavac, Aunts Phyllis Darge and Kathy Stewart, and Uncle Joseph Chasteen, and cousins Susan Weishoff, David Jackle, Steven Jackle, Alison Chasteen, Mark Chasteen, Dan Raby, DJ Raby, Wendy Raby, Lisa Brown, John Stewart and Elizabeth Pryor and their spouses, nieces and nephews. A Celebration of Life will be held in late spring or early summer.
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