Edward C. Stone

Edward C. Stone was born in Knoxville, Iowa, and grew up in Burlington, Iowa, where he graduated from high school and junior college. Recently, the Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club named their newest observatory the Stone-Kelly Observatory.

Prof. Stone is the David Morrisroe Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and former Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (1991-2001). He has also served as chair of Caltech's Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy and oversaw the development of the Keck Observatory as Vice President for Astronomical Facilities.

Since 1972, Stone has been the project scientist for the Voyager Mission at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, coordinating the scientific study of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune and Voyager’s continuing exploration of the outer heliosphere and search for the edge of interstellar space. Following his first instrument on a Discoverer satellite in 1961, Stone has been a principal investigator on nine NASA spacecraft and a co-investigator on five other NASA missions for which he developed instruments for studying galactic cosmic rays, solar energetic particles, and planetary magnetospheres.

Stone is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, president of the International Academy of Astronautics, and a vice president of COSPAR. Among his awards and honors, Stone received the National Medal of Science from President Bush (1991), the Magellanic Premium from the American Philosophical Society, and Distinguished Service Medals from NASA. In 1996, asteroid (5841) was named after him.