John A. Winn Jr.

Jack Winn was born on April 8, 1945, the first of four children of Jack and Doris Winn, at the Naval Base in Norfolk, Virginia, where Jack, Sr. was stationed during World War II. He lived in Brooklyn until he was eight, when his family moved to West Islip, Long Island, where they lived for 60 years.

Jack began playing the trombone when he was in elementary school, and pursued it through junior high and high school. He took private lessons and participated in several state and local band competitions during that time. In June 1962, he graduated from West Islip High School. He went to the State University of New York at Oneonta in the fall of 1962, and graduated in June 1966, with a B.S. in Mathematics. He continued his interest in the trombone and in jazz music during his college years.

After graduation, he returned to Long Island and began graduate studies at C.W. Post College, now part of Long Island University, where he earned an M.S. in Mathematics in 1969. During his time at C.W. Post, he became very active in politics and ultimately served as campaign manager for the Congressional campaign of his good friend, the late Fred Chernomas.

After a brief time in industry at Grumman Corporation and at the Langley Research Center in Virginia, Jack began his 37 years of service at the State University at Farmingdale in January 1974. While teaching at Farmingdale, he studied for his Ph.D. degree in Mathematics at Adelphi University in Garden City, which he received in 1980. His thesis, entitled Asymptotic Bounds for Classical Ramsey Numbers, was published in 1988 and digitized in 2010. At Farmingdale, he advanced from an associate in the Education Opportunity Center to a Distinguished Teaching Professor in Mathematics and served as Chair of the Department of Mathematics from 1992 to 2010. He retired from Farmingdale in December 2010.

In retirement, he resumed his passion for jazz trombone playing and joined two jazz bands—The Bay Big Band and the Dowling College Band. He also began attending an annual summer jazz camp known as Jazz Vermont for six years.

Jack battled many serious illnesses starting in 1994 with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, triple bypass surgery in 2007 and lung surgery in 2010. During his last ten months of life, he was confined to hospitals and rehabilitation and nursing facilities, but he never gave up fighting.

Jack is survived by his wife Elizabeth, three siblings, seven nephews and nieces and six great nephews and nieces.

A Memorial Service will be held at the University Club in Knapp Hall on the campus of the State University at Farmingdale on Saturday, May 14, 2016 at 1:00 PM.