Jan/Feb 2015
Professor Ted Snow has officially retired from the faculty of the astrophysics and planetary sciences department at the University of Colorado, after 34 years of service. Their newsletter states that “Ted has been a mainstay of our observational astronomy faculty, teaching a wide range of undergraduate courses and writing several astronomy and physics textbooks with student guides and web applications. Ted is the author of 224 refereed publications;… the APS department is establishing the Theodore Snow Undergraduate Scholarship, awarded to an undergraduate in our astronomy major program to encourage them in their studies and to enter research in astrophysics.” Well done, Ted. Your scribe is taking ASTRO 101 at Cal Poly to learn a bit about the starry firmament, and is proud to know that a classmate has contributed to our understanding of the heavenly mysteries.
From Sean Kelly: “In 2008 I was blessed to marry Priscilla Conwell Deck. Between us we have four daughters, three sons, and seven grandchildren. We live on the North Shore of Boston.”
On a much sadder note, I have a report that Eric Stiffler died on August 24. From his obituary: “Eric lived in Macomb (Illinois) most of his life. In 1963 he went to Phillips Exeter Academy.… He got his bachelor’s from Yale and his master’s and PhD at the University of Chicago. He was hired at Western Illinois University as a faculty member from 1977 to 1989, director of the Honors Program from 1987 to 1989, assistant provost from 1989 to 1991, associate provost from 1991 to 2001, and acting provost from 2001 to 2003. He returned to the faculty from 2003 to 2005 before his retirement on June 1, 2005. He published many papers. He was devoted to his family and a fan of photography, woodworking, and the outdoors.” Eric leaves behind his wife Janice, four children, and three grandchildren.
From our class book: Eric was an intensive philosophy major, and made Dean’s List in 1965–66 and Ranking Scholar, 1966–67. He was in Branford, and worked on the Yale Daily News from 1966 to 1969. He was assistant director of the US Grant Foundation. I have no other information.
Your scribe drinks from a Yale cup filled with joy and sadness, as it must be in this life. But my cup is now empty, and only my classmates can fill it.
“People are like stained glass windows: they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light within.”—Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, psychiatrist and author (1926–2004).