Background
Koester was born on March 16, 1936; the son of Eric A. and Irmgard (Petzel) Koester.
Koester was born on March 16, 1936; the son of Eric A. and Irmgard (Petzel) Koester.
Koester received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1958 and a Master of Arts degree in 1959 from the University of California. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Harvard University in 1964.
Koester began his career as an assistant professor at the University of California in 1964. Five years later he took a position of an associate professor at the University of Nevada. Also Rudolf worked as a professor at the same university from 1976 to 2001. Since 2001 he has been a professor emeritus at the University of Nevada.
Koester is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
On January 12, 1973 Rudolf Koester married Elizabeth Margriet Dane.