Wolfgang Wasow was born in 1909 in Vevey, Switzerland and had his early schooling in Germany.  In 1928 after receiving his Abitur, Wolfgang enrolled in Humboldt University in Berlin. After some time in Paris he spent four and a half years in Gottingen where he received his diploma in mathematics in 1933. Foreseeing the turmoil in Germany he left for Italy where he taught mathematics and physical education in a German boarding school. He came to the United States in 1939. After teaching at Goddard College in Vermont, Wolfgang moved to New York City where he received a fellowship to study at New York University. He completed his doctoral thesis in 1941 on turning point problems.

In 1949 Wolfgang went to UCLA to participate in the Institute for Numerical Analysis, and this lead to a collaboration with George E. Forsythe  and their ground-breaking book 'Finite Difference Methods for Partial Differential Equations,”  published in 1960. This book has been translated into many languages and is considered a pioneering effort in the field.

In 1957, Wolfgang joined the Mathematics Department at UW-Madison and turned his mathematical efforts to his basic interests in  asymptotic expansions and applications in differential equations. His books “Asymptotic Expansions for Ordinary Difference Equations” and “Linear Turning Point Theory,”  published in 1965 and 1985 respectively,  are fundamental contributions to the development of these areas.

Professor Wasow served as Chair of the Department of  Mathematics from 1970 to 1972  and is remembered for his fairness and even-handedness during a period of great stress on campus.

Wolfgang loved music, particularly opera and German lieder, and  he performed in several Madison choruses.  He was very interested in languages and spoke and read many fluently. He retired in 1980, but continued his mathematical research and extensive broad reading. He died in Madison on September 11. 1993.