Friends, family, DU students, alumni, faculty and administration crowded into Evans Chapel last Wednesday while dozens more stood outside listening by a remote speaker, to attend the memorial service for Tom Stephen, who was chair of the Physics and Astronomy Departments.
Stephen was lauded for his dedication to students.
Ian Welsh, a junior and engineering major, said, “I always thought he was a nice guy. He taught us more than just physics.” Many students and alumni had taken his introductory physics class, which tended to be a filter for engineering and physics majors.
Another junior and engineering major, Ryan McMillan, said, “He had a quote every day at the beginning of class. Sometimes these were humorous, sometimes from were scientists.”
The quotations reflected his personality and commitment to creating a welcome atmosphere for students, McMillan said. They included, “Why don’t they make the whole plane out of the black box” and “The harder I work, the more luck I have.”
Herschel Neumann, professor and associate chair of the Astronomy and Physics Department said Stephen’s last e-mail was about teaching.
“It’s a commitment to a life, not a job, not a 9-5 position” a responsibility that he gladly took up,” Neumann said.
Dave Trott, an adjunct professor of physics said, “He was the kind of person you had a respect for. He did not demand respect, he commanded it. He was a great person, the word ‘boss’ is hardly an accurate representation.”
Neumann added that Stephen was “highly and creatively intelligent. He was able to probe quickly into the heart of problems, whether in his research, in his teaching, or in his administrative responsibilities and committee service. His base of knowledge-where did he have time to develop it?-was remarkably broad, and he was able to talk with people in a wide range of disciplines.”
Dean Jim Fogleman, another colleague of Stephen’s said, “Tom could think the great thoughts, but could also come down on the playing field with you.”
Stephen applied physics methodology to current issues. His most famous work proved that a ball hit at the new Coor’s Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, would fly 9 percent further than one hit at sealevel. He also invented the “Swingsinger” that attached to a golfer’s club. The instrument would measure the smoothness of the swing and hum in variant volumes to alert the golfer to the accuracy of his swing.
Stephen’s worked covered a variety of subfields of physics. His research interests included atomic, molecular, and optical physics and its association with atmospheric physics, investigation of the production of low energy neutral atoms and methods for their detection in the near-earth space environment, and laboratory infrared spectroscopy, with an interest in instrumentation.
During his first job at the University of Denver, as a postdoctoral research associate in 1990, he pioneered an instrument that studied the effects of atomic oxygen on astronautic equipment. He obtained his doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and serving for two years in the industry. He became a research physicist in 1991, was promoted to assistant research professor and also began teaching in 1993, was appointed an assistant professor in 1997, and finally became chair of the department in September 2001.
Stephen has twice, in 1995 and 2000, received the AUSA Senate Outstanding Faculty Award, was named University of Denver Driscoll Master Educator in 1998, and was awarded the Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering Faculty Excellence Award in 2000.
Stephen’s chaplain from St. Joseph’s Hospital said, “No one expected to lose Tom so quickly or suddenly.” Stephen died Sunday morning. He was diagnosed with cancer last September but did not let most others know until early in January. At a department meeting last month he “expressed the hope that he would be able to continue to work for the benefit of the department,” said Neumann.
Stephen leaves behind his wife, Barbara and two children, Sean and Elizabeth. Neumann commented that Barbara is “the department’s assistant to the chair and only office person.” Elizabeth attends the University of Denver and Sean lives in Seattle.
Neumann will serve as interim chair until a permanent chair can be identified.
