Alvin Virgil Tollestrup was a Caltech PhD and a high energy experimental physics professor at Caltech for more than 15 years before leaving for Fermilab, where he played a leadership role in developing the superconducting magnets for the Collider Detector (CDF). He was honored as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1993, and continued to work on innovative experimental projects until almost the end of his long life.