Agnar Pyttedied peacefully on the morning of November 6th, 2015, at the age of 82, in the presence of his wife of sixty years, Anah. He is also survived by his three children, Alyson, Anthony and Anders, and his brothers Erling and Odvar.

Ag was born in Kongsberg, Norway, on December 23, 1932, the son of Ole and Edith (Christiansen) Pytte. He spent his childhood on his ancestral farm in neighboring Hvittingvoss, where his family belonged to the minority Methodist Church. His pastoral youth was darkened by the Second World War; his father's participation in the resistance movement during the German occupation of Norway was for him a source of both anxiety and pride.

Ag was encouraged by a teacher at the Gymnasium in Kongsberg to further his study of mathematics in the United States. Following this advice, he gained admission as a senior to Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. He subsequently received his BA at Princeton University in 1953, where he concentrated in Physics, and his PhD at Harvard University in 1958.

Ag met his future wife, Anah Currie Loeb, on a skiing vacation in New Hampshire while still a student, and they were married on June 18th, 1955. After receiving his doctorate in 1958 he accepted a faculty appointment at Dartmouth College, and he and Anah headed back up to the ski country to raise their family.

In addition to being a tenured member of the faculty in the Department Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College, Ag served as Chairman of that department, Associate Dean of Faculty, Dean of Graduate Studies and then Provost during the presidency of David Thomas McLaughlin. In 1987, he left Dartmouth to serve as President of Case Western Reserve University, where he remained until he retired in 1999.

Agnar felt a deep reverence for the institutions of higher education, and was grateful for his opportunity to contribute to the development of two great universities. He was also in love with physics, and with teaching, and at times felt the sorrow of having to choose between his passions. But Ag was foremost devoted to his family, and throughout his career he placed those interests above all others.

Perhaps the career choice that haunted Ag the most was his decision to return to Dartmouth after a year working as a theoretical plasma physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. The lab on the Forrestal Campus has been at the forefront of research in plasma physics, both experimental and theoretical. Ag often wondered what contributions he might have made to the field if he had stayed there.

Ag remained a Norwegian farm boy at heart. His integrity and lack of pretension won the respect and affection of all who knew him; he will be dearly missed by his family and his friends. A memorial is planned, to take place in Hanover, New Hampshire, but a date has not been set.

If you would like to attend, please send your contact information to [email protected] and we will send you details as they become available.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Rand-Wilson Funeral Home of Hanover, NH.