the combination of a nationwide campaign against a communist party member teaching a course on marxism and the change in the direction of his research from government- funded research to unfunded research with a marxist orientation, led to an eight-year effort by the university of minnesota administration to force his removal from the university despite his having tenure. with support from colleagues in the united states and abroad, he was able to defend his position and win promotion in 1983, but with the unusual title professor without disciplinary designation. in 1994, marquit was finally awarded the title professor of physics after the "encyclopedia of applied physics" commissioned him to write a 13-page entry on philosophy of technology. he was awarded the title professor emeritus of physics in 1999.