Dr. Stanley Geschwind of Needham and Berkeley Heights, New Jersey passed away on Monday, February 8, 1999. He is survived by his companion Susan Powers; sons Daniel, Benjamin and Michael and their mother Dena, his grandchildren Eli and Maya and his sisters Shirley Frant of Newton and Lenora Gebeloff of NY. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to Appalachian Mountain Club (Three Mile Island Camp) 5 Joy Street, Boston, 02108. The flag at Clark University was flown at half-mast on February 9 and 10, 1999 in his honor. An obituary was published in the February, 2000 issue of Physics Today.
The following obituary is adapted from the May 1999 issue of the Clark News.
Geschwind received his Ph.D. from Columbia University working with Nobel Prize winner Charles Townes. He spent most of his career at AT&T Bell Laboratories, where he arrived as the end of the vacuum tube era and left 35 years later when a microprocessor contained millions of transistors. Many of these technological and scientific developments took place while Geschwind was the Head of the Quantum and Solid State Physics Department. He enjoyed wide ranging personal contacts throughout the scientific community and was greatly respected in both academic and industrial laboratories. His wide research interests included experimetal condensed matter physics, light scattering in solids, electron paramagnetic resonance, optical spectroscopy and inelastic light scattering. His latest research focused on novel features of magnetic linear chains.
He joined Clark in 1991 where he had a major impact on both undergraduate and graduate students. He was a captivating teacher, filled with a profound understanding of his subject matter, and the enthusiasm of youth. His classes were intense experiences in which much was expected; they often exceeded two or more hours in length, plus long laboratory sessions, yet the students rose to the occasion. His second year course, Quantum Physics and Relativity, dazzled undergraduates for four years, many of whom remember it as their defining experience at Clark.
He likewise provided a boost to the graduate program, building a new laboratory, guiding two students to their Ph.D.'s, and involving the department in current topics. We were amazed, but not surprised when his NSF proposal received six evaluations of excellent out of six reviews. His most recent research was with graduate students Charles Saylor and Laurie Desmarais on novel features of magnetic linear chains which he investigated using optical and paramagnetic resonance methods.
Stan Geschwind enjoyed being outdoors as well as in his laboratory. When not doing physics, he was likely to be found hiking or skiing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
When Stan retired to the Greater Boston area, many universities were ready to welcome him as a senior staff member. We are proud of the fact that he choose to spend his post-retirement time at Clark. We are a better department because he was part of it.