Obituary of Robert L. Stearns

Robert L."Bob” Stearns was born in New Haven CT on July 28,1926 to Carl L. Stearns and Mildred Booth Stearns. He graduated from Middletown High School, Middletown CT in 1944 and served in the Army in World War II in the 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Division in Germany. He graduated from Wesleyan University, Middletown CT in 1950 with a BA in Physics and obtained MS and PhD degrees from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio in 1952 and 1956 where he served as a Instructor of physics in 1953 and 1954. From 1955 to 1958 he served as an Instructor of Physics at Queens College in Flushing NY. In 1958 he moved to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY becoming Professor of Physics in 1968 and serving as Chairman of the Physics and Astronomy Dept. for 18 years. He also served as Dean of Freshmen at Vassar from from 1975 to 1978 and retired as Prof. Emeritus in 1993. He was the author of 4 books and numerous scientific articles.

During the years 1957‑1994 much of his research was done at Brookhaven National Laboratory as a member of the Neutron and Nuclear Physics Group and later with the Intermediate Energy Group. He spent the 1970‑71 year as a Visiting Scientist at CERN, the European Nuclear Physics Laboratory in Geneva Switzerland, and parts of the years 1972‑74 as a Visiting Staff Member at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico working at LAMPF, the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility. After 1980 his research shifted to pioneering work in the field of hyper‑nuclear physics at Brookhaven. His collaboration was supported by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation and permitted Vassar physics majors to participate in these experiments. He was a member of the Poughkeepsie Tennis Club and a former member of the Dutchess Golf and Country Club. In 1958 he married Frances F. Fowler in Mount Airy, North Carolina. They have two sons, Marshall Edward of Darien, CT and Andrew Barker of Doylestown, PA; two Grandsons, Christopher Robert and Thomas Martin in Darien and two granddaughters, Lauren Hope and Jenna Paige in Doylestown, PA. Bob also has two sisters, Doris Stearns Swain in Cromwell, CT and Elva Stearns Creeger in Middle Haddam, CT.