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"So I went to the U. of Michigan in the fall of 1962, and I spent five
years there," he wrote. "These were the most miserable years of my life
(except for the first year and the last year)."
When Kaczynski entered the University, he was a precocious, solitary
mathematics student whose brilliance his undergraduate education at Har-
vard had not yet revealed. It was 1962. He was 20 years old. His name was
still Ted Kaczynski.
By the time he'd left, it was 1967. He was 25 years old. He had earned a
master's and doctorate in mathematics. And he'd developed an identity with
a different name. He was the Unabomber.
He also applied to the University of California at Berkeley and the
T he University was not Kaczynski's first choice for graduate work.
University of Chicago. All three schools accepted him. None initially
offered a student-teaching position or financial aid.

He was the darling of the math
degree in 1964.
"Best man I have seen," wrote M\
evaluation.
"He just seems a little too sure
Duren's only complaint.
Maybe he had reason to be. K
extremely difficult problems and t1
journals.
Once, as. Math Prof. George P
Piranian told his students that he ha
mathematical subject called bour
solved. Weeks later, Kaczynski plac
on Piranian's desk. He had solved th
Kaczynski's academic prowess

AME4

How
the alum
went from
math to,
murder.
By Karl Stampf
Managing News Editor

"...I WENT
TO THE U. OF
MICHIGAN
IN THE FALL OF
AND I SPENT
FIVE YEARS
THERE. THESE
WERE THE MOST
MISERABLE
YEARS OF
MY LIFE..."
- TED KACZYNSKI

F'.
"t;:

Kaczynski lived in 300 Prescott in East Quad Residence Hall.

t's been 43 years since
Ted Kaczynski first 
stepped onto the Uni-
versity of Michigan
campus.
Since then, he's spent
18 of those 43 years
- from 1978 to 1995 -mailing
bombs. He's killed three people,
wounded 29 and received four
life sentences without parole.

But he still describes his five
years at the University as among
the worst in his life.
"My memories of the Univer-
sity of Michigan are NOT pleas-

ant," he wrote me

in a letter

His grades at Harvard were unexceptional, especially for someone
who had entered the world's most prestigious at age 16. In his last year
as an undergrad, he scored a B+ in History of Science, B- in Humani-
ties 115, B in Math 210, B in Math 250, A- in Anthropology 122, C+
in History 143 and A- in Scandinavian. Earlier in his career, he earned
an embarrassing C in Mathematics 101. He finished with a 3.12 GPA.
Those grades may not seem drastically poor - especially given it was
a time before rampant grade inflation - but Kaczynski had a 170 IQ at
age 10. He was expected to perform better.
The University of Michigan eventually offered him a grant of
$2,310 a year to serve as a student teacher. He packed his bags and
traveled to Ann Arbor.
His grades at the University marked an improvement from his
grades at Harvard. He limited himself to two courses per semester to
accommodate his considerable teaching duties.
During his five-year career, he came into his own academically. In
a turn around from his struggles at Harvard, Kaczynski's lowest grade
- save a failure in physics - was a B-. He only received four other
B's to go along with his 12 A's.
His teaching, though, was not up to par. After sitting in on his class
on Oct. 12, 1962, an evaluator gave him lukewarm marks: a "good" in
categories like subject knowledge but only an "average" in subjects like
student participation.
There was one isolated rift with a student, who called him a "really
incompetent teacher who did not know his subject." The professors kept
a close eye on him for a while. There were no more complaints.

Kaczynski frequently visited Nichols
tion, titled "Boundary Functions."
Sumner Myers prize for the Unive
the year, netting Kaczynski $100. A
is still displayed near the East Qua
Google "boundary functions" name
from Kaczynski's thesis.
Every professor on his dissertati
"This thesis is the best I have <
evaluation form.
Kaczynski's genius was finally s
Something else was, too.
it's chilling to think that while
- walking down State Street c
Diag, taking notes in Angell Hal
ers did not see anything in him 1
he would go on to be one of Americ
In a letter of recommendation 1
perhaps Kaczynski's strongest sup
very pleasant person."
Shortly after Kaczynski's arres
gan Daily that the math department
always polite.
Asked by the Daily three deca
thought the 1967 version of Kaczy
Piranian said he would have answer

dated Jan. 16.
Attached to the letter, he includ-
ed a hand-copied excerpt from his
1979 unpublished autobiography
on extra-long legal paper.