Edward C. Stone

Edward C. Stone

Edward C. Stone (January 23, 1936 – June 9, 2024) was the David Morrisroe Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology (1994-2024), Vice Provost for Special Projects (2004-2024), and the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1991-2001). As Vice Provost for Special Projects, he served as vice-chair of the Thirty Meter Telescope Board of Directors on behalf of Caltech, the University of California, and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), joined by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Department of Science and Technology of India.

Dr. Stone earned his Associate of Arts degree in 1956 from Burlington Junior College and his M.S. (1959) and Ph.D. (1964) degrees in physics from the University of Chicago. He joined the Caltech faculty in 1964 as a research fellow in physics, jointly establishing the Space Radiation Laboratory and had served as Chair of the Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy (1983-1988) and as Vice President for Astronomical Facilities (1988-1990).

Dr. Stone was principal investigator on nine NASA spacecraft and a co-investigator on five other NASA missions. Beginning in 1972, Dr. Stone served as the Chief Scientist for the Voyager Mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Following the launch of the twin Voyager spacecraft in 1977, he coordinated the studies of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and the continuing search for the edge of interstellar space.

From 1985 to 2009, he was a member of the Board of Directors of the California Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA), and oversaw the construction of the W. M. Keck Observatory with its two ten-meter telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. He was also a W. M. Keck Foundation director, and chaired the Keck Foundation’s Science and Engineering Committee for 24 years.

Dr. Stone was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics, a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the California Council on Science and Technology, and a member of the American Astronomical Society.

His awards included: the National Medal of Science (1991), the Magellanic Award from the American Philosophical Society, the IAF Alan D. Emil Award, and the IAA von Karman Award. He received two NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medals, three NASA Distinguished Service Medals, the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, and two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals. He also received the Dryden Medal, the Space Science Award, and the von Karman Lectureship in Astronautics from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Aviation Week & Space Technology Aerospace Laurels Award, the National Space Club Science Award, the American Academy of Achievement Golden Plate Award, the COSPAR Award for Outstanding Contributions to Space Science, the International von Kármán Wings Award, and the Carl Sagan Award and the Space Flight Award from the American Astronautical Society. He was inducted into the Aviation Week & Space Technology Hall of Fame and was a Sloan Foundation Fellow, and received honorary degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Southern California. In 1996, Asteroid (5841) Stone was named after him.